HTLV-I sequence in lymphoproliferative disorders.
Several recent studies reported the detection of partially deleted HTLV-I provirus in biopsies of lesions from patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) and T-cell anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. We studied lesions from 59 patients (21 B-cell lymphomas: 16 diffuse and five follicular; 11 cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, including seven MF; one T-immunoblastic lymphoma; 10 diffuse anaplastic large-cell lymphomas: two B, four T, and four of indeterminate phenotype; three Hodgkin's lymphomas; eight atypical lymphoid proliferations; four other lymphoid lesions, and one squamous-cell carcinoma) using primers to the gag, pol and pX regions of HTLV-I in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect relevant sequences. A total of 10 patients showed one or more PCR-amplifiable products, including five of 11 patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (45%) as compared with one of 21 patients with B-cell lymphomas (4.3%). We did not find a high incidence of positivity in anaplastic large-cell lymphomas, as reported previously. Detectable HTLV-I sequences were not limited to any subtype of lymphoma, and a pX sequence was detected in a squamous-cell carcinoma. Sequence analysis of one amplified product from each of the three regions studied showed a 94.2, 100, and 98.9% homology to the corresponding prototypical gag, pol, and pX HTLV-I sequences, respectively, indicating that the amplified sequences were derived from HTLV-I or a very closely related virus. HTLV-I sequences were detected in a significant proportion of patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, but their role in the pathogenesis of the neoplasm is still unclear.
Chan
W C
WC
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68198-3135.
Hooper
C
C
Wickert
R
R
Benson
J M
JM
Vardiman
J
J
Hinrichs
S
S
Weisenburger
D
D
D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008232:Lymphoproliferative Disorders / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral