title: Dependency of antibody titer on provirus load in human T lymphotropic virus type I carriers: an interpretation for the minor population of seronegative carriers.
abstract: To evaluate the prevalence of seronegative carriers of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), buffy coat samples from 1015 Okinawan high school students were tested by immunoassays and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among 17 HTLV-I carriers, 1 person who was seronegative and 1 who was PCR-negative were identified. gag and tax/rex PCR titers correlated with each other (r = .92; P < .001). Of the 17 carriers, 14 (82%) had high virus loads (geometric averages, 522 gag and 703 tax/rex copies/micrograms of DNA; 95% confidence intervals, 38-7260 and 75-6594, respectively). Carriers with low virus loads had < or = 2.2 gag copies. In the high-virus-load group, the gag PCR titers correlated with the antibody titers (r = 0.88; P < .001). The regression line intersected the minimum antibody detection level at 35 gag copies/micrograms of DNA. These results suggest that a small percentage of carriers may be seronegative.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyata
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamahora
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iha
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katamine
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D002353:Carrier State; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies