Prevalence of HTLV type I infection in Iran: a serological and genetic study.
Several publications describe the presence of the human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Jewish individuals born in Mash-had, Iran. We report here the results of HTLV-I serological and genetic studies in the non-Jewish population of Mash-had as well as a neighboring area: Gonbad-Kavous. Seven hundred and seven serum samples from Mash-had (694 healthy individuals and 13 patients with lymphoma) and 90 from Gonbad-Kavous were tested for HTLV antibodies by gelatin particle agglutination assay (PA) and confirmatory Western blots (WBs). Seropositive rates of 3.0% (21 of 694) in Mash-had, 0% (0 of 90) in Gonbad-Kavous, and 100% (13 of 13) in lymphoma cases were observed. HTLV-I DNA sequence were amplified by polymerase chain reaction directly from the fresh PBMCs of seropositive individuals. Phylogenetic analysis of the viral DNA sequence indicated that the HTLV-I present in Mash-had belong to the HTLV-I cosmopolitan clade. Altogether, these data indicate that Mash-had, located in northeastern Iran, is a newly recognized endemic center for HTLV-I.
Safai
B
B
Department of Dermatology, New York Medical College, Valhalla 10595, USA.
Huang
J L
JL
Boeri
E
E
Farid
R
R
Raafat
J
J
Schutzer
P
P
Ahkami
R
R
Franchini
G
G
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D007585:Jews; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012698:Serologic Tests