Increased replication of HTLV-I in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.
To estimate the replication of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM), or tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP), HTLV-I DNA integrated into lymphocyte genomes was analyzed by Southern blot hybridization. HTLV-I DNA was detected in 125 (82%) of 153 patients and most showed random integration. This incidence was much higher than the 29% found in asymptomatic carriers. Therefore, HAM/TSP development is associated with a high level of HTLV-I replication. In addition, lymphocytes from 3 patients with HAM/TSP showed monoclonal integration of HTLV-I DNA, indicating adult T-cell leukemia.
Yoshida
M
M
Department of Viral Oncology, Cancer Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Osame
M
M
Kawai
H
H
Toita
M
M
Kuwasaki
N
N
Nishida
Y
Y
Hiraki
Y
Y
Takahashi
K
K
Nomura
K
K
Sonoda
S
S
D000328:Adult; D004261:DNA Replication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000382:microbiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000382:microbiology*; D014779:Virus Replication