Frequent infection with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I in patients with AIDS but not in carriers of human immunodeficiency virus type 1.
Antibody to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) was measured in 49 Japanese patients (48 with hemophilia) infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and in 18 hemophiliacs who were not infected with HIV-1, by use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The antigen used was a gag-env hybrid protein constructed in vitro and expressed in Escherichia coli. This assay detected a specific antibody against HTLV-I. Four of the 18 HIV-1-negative hemophiliacs (22%) were positive for anti-HTLV-I antibody; their geometric mean titer was 951 U/ml. Seven of the 12 patients (58%) with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) were positive for anti-HTLV-I antibody, and 8 of 35 HIV-1 + AIDS-free carriers (23%) were positive. The difference between the prevalence of HTLV-I infection in the two groups was statistically significant (p less than 0.0297). The geometric mean titer of antibody in the patients with AIDS was 318 U/ml and that for the HIV-1 + AIDS-free carriers was 1,496 U/ml. These findings suggest that HTLV-I infection could be one of the factors in the development of AIDS in individuals infected with HIV-I.
Hattori
T
T
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
Koito
A
A
Takatsuki
K
K
Ikematsu
S
S
Matsuda
J
J
Mori
H
H
Fukui
M
M
Akashi
K
K
Matsumoto
K
K
D000386:AIDS-Related Complex / Q000150:complications; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000097:blood; D002836:Hemophilia B / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins