title: Serological speciation of human T-cell leukaemia virus infections using synthetic peptide antigens.
abstract: In order to assess the specificity and sensitivity of two peptide-based assays (Synth HTLV-I and HTLV-II enzyme-linked immunoassay [EIA] [UBI] and Select-HTLV EIA [IAF]) in discriminating between antibody to HTLV-I and HTLV-II infection, a panel of 186 well-characterised serum/plasma samples was tested by the two assays. The panel comprised 160 samples that by Western blot were confirmed to contain antibodies to HTLV-I/II and 26 samples that showed reactivity with gag but not env gene products. Both assays were found to be specific in that they did not misclassify any of the 80 specimens from cases of tropical spastic paraparesis or adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma, diseases believed to be HTLV-I associated, as anti-HTLV-II positive. Of the 160 specimens confirmed as anti-HTLV-I/II positive by Western blot, 6.2% were negative or untypable in the Synth EIA compared with 13.7% in the Select EIA. Of the 26 Western blot indeterminate samples, 16 were negative by both assays. Five were typed as anti-HTLV-I by both assays and 5 as anti HTLV-II by Select EIA only. The peptide based EIAs offer an economical and, in most cases, reliable means of discriminating between anti-HTLV-I and anti-HTLV-II. However, they should only be applied to sera that have been confirmed by Western blot or other methods as anti-HTLV-I/II positive. Even then they may fail to speciate sera from non-Japanese, non-Afrocaribbean populations.
authors.affiliation: Virus Reference Division, Central Public Health Laboratory, London, England.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tosswill
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McAlpine
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Mortimer
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D015485:Deltaretrovirus Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000276:immunology; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D015485:Deltaretrovirus Antigens; D015686:Gene Products, env; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies