Fluctuation of HTLV-I proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.
To assess the immunopathological significance of the increased replication of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) we investigated the dynamics of HTLV-I proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of HAM/TSP patients at different clinical stages. We compared the dynamics to those of asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers (AC). The estimation of the amount of HTLV-I proviral DNA was carried out by quantitative polymerase chain reaction of serially diluted DNA samples where it was feasible to titrate 0.04-80 copies per 100 PBMC. The proviral DNA quantified in six patients with HAM/TSP was 2-20 copies per 100 PBMC, while that in eight cases of AC was 0.04-8 copies per 100 PBMC. Thus, the amount of HTLV-I proviral DNA in HAM/TSP patients was 3-50 times as high as that of AC. When we followed up HAM/TSP patients for 1-3 years, the amount of HTLV-I proviral DNA fluctuated from 4 to 10-fold. These data suggest that the rate of HTLV-I replication increases in HAM/TSP and the amount of HTLV-I proviral DNA fluctuates in their clinical course. Fluctuation in the amount of HTLV-I proviral DNA may reflect dynamics of HTLV-I infected cell proliferation and immunological suppression in vivo in HAM/TSP patients.
Kubota
R
R
Third Department of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
Fujiyoshi
T
T
Izumo
S
S
Yashiki
S
S
Maruyama
I
I
Osame
M
M
Sonoda
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics
D004279:DNA, Viral