title: Seroprevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I in patients with chronic neurological disorders other than tropical spastic paraparesis.
abstract: Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), the etiological agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, also appears to be the cause of tropical spastic paraparesis, a chronic myelopathy reported in several different regions of the world. The prevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I in patients with chronic neurodegenerative disorders other than tropical spastic paraparesis and in patients with some muscle inflammatory disorders has been investigated. IgG antibodies to HTLV-I were measured in the sera and/or cerebrospinal fluid from 82 Guamanian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia, 164 Guamanian normal controls, 10 patients with kuru from the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, 4 patients with Viliuisk encephalomyelitis from the Iakut region of eastern Siberia, 45 Italian patients with multiple sclerosis, and 56 patients with polymyositis (49 from the United States and 7 from Jamaica). As determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Western immunoblot, and gelatin particle agglutination techniques, serological evidence of HTLV-I infection was found in 1 patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 1 control subject from Guam, and in 1 patient from the United States and all 7 Jamaican patients with polymyositis. Except for the high seropositivity rate among the group of Jamaican patients with polymyositis, our data indicate that HTLV-I is an unlikely causative agent in the spectrum of the neurological diseases examined. The seropositivity of the 7 Jamaican patients with polymyositis requires further study.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000503:physiopathology; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000276:immunology; D014329:Tropical Climate
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies