The presence of particles resembling human T-cell leukemia virus type I at ultrastructural examination of lymphomatous cells in a case of T-cell leukemia/lymphoma.
BACKGROUND
Cases of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) resulting from human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) have been observed mainly in the southern part of Japan. Recently, the authors performed a second examination of cutaneous, muscle, and nerve biopsy specimens from a French white woman who died of ATLL in 1979.


METHODS
A 67-year-old white woman had a lymphoma diagnosed on a lymph node biopsy. She then had acute pains and a thickened skin on both legs. Blood examination showed a leukocyte count of 16,000/ml with 75% leukemia T-cells. Biopsies were performed on the antero-external surface of the right leg. She died after 2 years of illness.


RESULTS
Lymphomatous infiltrates of T-cell origin were seen in the dermis, between muscle fibers, and in a peripheral nerve. The recent ultrastructural examination of a few vacuoles located in the cytoplasm of certain lymphomatous cells showed rounded structures mixed with larger virus-like formations having a central nucleoid and spike material around the envelope. Polymerase chain reaction experiments performed on deparaffinized sections demonstrated the presence of a tax sequence homologous to that of HTLV-I. Other structural genes were not detected.


CONCLUSIONS
These results contrast with other ultrastructural studies in which HTLV-I was detected only after cultivation of leukemia cells from patients with ATLL. This case probably resulted from an HTLV-I variant.
Vital
C
C
Department of Neuropathology, Bordeaux II University, France.
Vital
A
A
Moynet
D
D
Broustet
A
A
de Mascarel
A
A
Bloch
B
B
Guillemain
B
B
D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D001706:Biopsy; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D014771:Virion / Q000235:genetics*
D004279:DNA, Viral