title: In vivo proviral burden and viral RNA expression in T cell subsets of patients with human T lymphotropic virus type-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis.
abstract: We used in situ hybridization combined with immunocytochemistry, cell sorting, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to investigate clinical events in three asymptomatic carriers of human T lymphotrophic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) and ten patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The objective was to determine which T cell subset of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), CD4 or CD8, were infected by HTLV-1 and the manner in which HTLV-1 proviral DNA was expressed at the level of the single cell. Both CD4-positive and CD8-positive cells of the PBMC from five patients with HAM/TSP were infected with HTLV-1. The proportion of HTLV-1-infected cells was 2.5-40% in the CD4-positive subset and 1.0-65% in the CD8- positive subset, when quantified by PCR using HTLV-1-infected MT2 cells as a positive standard. Proviral DNA of HTLV-1 was expressed in both CD4-positive cells and CD8-positive cells of the PBMC from six patients with HAM/TSP and three asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers. In patients with HAM/TSP, the proportion of the cells expressing HTLV-1 proviral DNA was 0.02-0.1% in both subsets. In asymptomatic carriers, the expression of HTLV-1 proviral DNA was 0.01-0.02% in the CD4-positive subset and 0.01% in the CD8-positive subset. Therefore, HTLV-1 possessed similar in vivo cellular tropism for both CD4-positive cells and CD8-positive cells and HTLV-1 proviral DNA was expressed in vivo in both circulating T cell subsets.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001483:Base Sequence; D002469:Cell Separation; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral