A seroepidemiological survey of HTLV-1 in the Philippines.
The prevalence of human T-lymphotropic retrovirus type-1 (HTLV-1) was examined in the Asian Pacific area to search for endemic foci outside Japan. A total of 1323 sera from healthy subjects in the Philippines including Filipino lowlanders, Mongoloid slash-and-burn agriculturalists and the Mongoloid aboriginal hunter-gatherers (Aeta group and Mamanwa group) were examined for the presence of antibodies to HTLV-1 by the indirect immunofluorescence test and by the Western blot technique using HTLV-1 carrying cells. Nineteen out of 20 HTLV-1 antibody carriers found in the present study are clustered in the Aeta group of Mongoloid aboriginal hunter-gatherers who have until recently been isolated in the remote mountainous areas of Luzon Island since their arrival in the Philippines during the last glacial era (12,000-15,000 years ago). This finding supports the theory that HTLV-1 originated in Mongoloid racial groups during prehistoric times.
Ishida
T
T
Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Yamamoto
K
K
Omoto
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010679:Philippines; D012424:Rural Population
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies