Antibody to p40tax protein of human T cell leukemia virus 1 and infectivity.
To investigate the physiologic significance of antibody to human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) tax gene product (p40tax), 147 male and 243 female HTLV-1 carriers were examined for anti-p40tax, and 104 carriers were checked for anti-p40tax an average of 5.4 times during an 8-year period. Prevalence of anti-p40tax was significantly higher in female (62.6%) than in male subjects (51.0%; P less than .05). Anti-p40tax status did not change in most during the observation period. There were significantly more HTLV-1 carriers among children of anti-p40tax-positive mothers (45.3%) than among those from anti-p40tax-negative mothers (20.0%; P less than .01). However, no significant difference was observed between wives of p40tax-positive and -negative men. The p40tax antibody may be a marker of relative infectivity of HTLV-1, albeit an imperfect one.
Kashiwagi
S
S
Department of General Medicine, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.
Kajiyama
W
W
Hayashi
J
J
Noguchi
A
A
Nakashima
K
K
Nomura
H
H
Ikematsu
H
H
Sawada
T
T
Kida
S
S
Koide
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000276:immunology*
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015534:Trans-Activators