Expression of human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) tax/rex gene in fresh bronchoalveolar lavage cells of HTLV-1-infected individuals.
Accumulating evidence has suggested the involvement of HTLV-1 in the inflammatory lesions of various organs, including the lung. However, the causal relationship between HTLV-1 and inflammatory responses in the organs remains to be elucidated. In order to evaluate the expression of HTLV-1 and its effects in the lung, we examined the expression of mRNA for the HTLV-1 tax/rex gene in fresh bronchoalveolar lavage cells (BALC) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 23 seropositive individuals, including six patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), by use of an improved method of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The tax/rex mRNA was more frequently detected in BALC than in PBMC. All the HAM/TSP patients and eight of 17 carriers without neurological symptoms showed the expression of tax/rex mRNA in the BALC. IgM class antibodies to HTLV-1 were preferentially detected in sera of the tax/rex mRNA-positive individuals. The detection of tax/rex mRNA correlated closely with the presence of lymphocytosis accompanied by an elevated proportion of IL-2 receptor-bearing T cells in the BALC. Our findings indicate the crucial role of viral expression in the inflammatory response in the lung in HTLV-1-infected individuals.
Higashiyama
Y
Y
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
Katamine
S
S
Kohno
S
S
Mukae
H
H
Hino
S
S
Miyamoto
T
T
Hara
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D016355:Genes, pX / Q000235:genetics*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology
D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2