title: HTLV-I-associated leukemia: a model for chronic retroviral diseases.
abstract: Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) has been associated with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), a malignancy of mature CD4-positive lymphocytes, and with tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP), a demyelinating neurological syndrome. This article describes the clinical and pathological features of ATL and reviews the epidemiology of this disease and of its putative etiological agent, HTLV-I. From what is known about the molecular biology and epidemiology of HTLV-I, hypotheses on the etiology of TSP are proposed, and strategies for studying the neurological syndrome are suggested.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000502:physiology; D006800:Deltaretrovirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D012192:Retroviridae Infections; D014900:West Indies