title: Antibodies reactive with human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV-III) in the serum of patients with AIDS.
abstract: In cats, infection with T-lymphotropic retroviruses can cause T-cell proliferation and leukemia or T-cell depletion and immunosuppression. In humans, some highly T4 tropic retroviruses called HTLV-I can cause T-cell proliferation and leukemia. The subgroup HTLV-II also induces T-cell proliferation in vitro, but its role in disease is unclear. Viruses of a third subgroup of human T-lymphotropic retroviruses, collectively designated HTLV-III, have been isolated from cultured cells of 48 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The biological properties of HTLV-III and immunological analyses of its proteins show that this virus is a member of the HTLV family, and that it is more closely related to HTLV-II than to HTLV-I. Serum samples from 88 percent of patients with AIDS and from 79 percent of homosexual men with signs and symptoms that frequently precede AIDS, but from less than 1 percent of heterosexual subjects, have antibodies reactive against antigens of HTLV-III. The major immune reactivity appears to be directed against p41, the presumed envelope antigen of the virus.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000276:immunology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins