High risk of mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-I in p40tax antibody-positive mothers.
A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting the antibody to a human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) tax gene product, p40tax, has been developed. By this ELISA method, we have investigated the relationship between the presence of p40tax antibody in HTLV-I-infected mothers and the virus transmission rate from mothers to their children. The rate of mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-I was higher in p40tax antibody-positive mothers than in antibody-negative ones. Thus, the presence of p40tax antibody may indicate an increased risk of vertical transmission of HTLV-I.
Sawada
T
T
Tsukuba Research Laboratories, Eisai Co., Ltd., Ibaraki.
Tohmatsu
J
J
Obara
T
T
Koide
A
A
Kamihira
S
S
Ichimaru
M
M
Kashiwagi
S
S
Kajiyama
W
W
Matsumura
N
N
Kinoshita
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology*
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors