title: High frequency of human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus type II infection in New Mexico blood donors: determination by sequence-specific oligonucleotide hybridization.
abstract: The Albuquerque branch of the United Blood Services system was found to have an unusually high blood donor human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV) seroprevalence (0.72 per 1,000). Many studies investigating HTLV seroprevalence and transmission have assumed that all seropositivity is due to HTLV type I (HTLV-I); recent data dispute this conclusion. We investigated the high prevalence of HTLV seropositivity in New Mexico by determining whether HTLV-I or HTLV-II is predominant in our donors. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of proviral DNA from peripheral blood, followed by sequence-specific hybridization with oligonucleotide probes to distinguish the two viruses, we demonstrate that 9 of 10 Western blot-confirmed HTLV-seropositive blood donors from New Mexico are infected with HTLV-II. Implications of this finding for donors and the safety of the blood supply are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque 87131.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hjelle
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scalf
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swenson
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001782:Blood Donors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009516:New Mexico; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D009841:Oligonucleotides