title: HTLV-I and HTLV-II infections in hematologic disorder patients, cancer patients, and healthy individuals from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
abstract: To clarify the seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) among hematologic and cancer patients in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we investigated sera from 2430 individuals from the following groups: 152 patients with T-cell diseases, 250 with B-cell disorders, 67 with myeloid leukemia, 41 with Hodgkin's disease, 351 with a history of multiple blood transfusions, 235 patients with solid tumors of different types, and 109 family members of HTLV-I-infected patients. Antibodies to HTLV-I were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or particle agglutination assays (or both). Repeatedly reactive samples were tested by Western blot and polymerase chain reaction assay to differentiate HTLV-I from HTLV-II. We found an increased seroprevalence rate of HTLV-I among those with lymphoid malignancies, mainly in T-cell diseases (28.9%), and these results were important in characterizing 44 cases of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. We confirmed the presence of HTLV-I and HTLV-II infections in blood donors (0.4% and 0.1%, respectively), in patients exposed to multiple blood transfusions (10.2% and 0.8%, respectively), and in 30 (27.5%) of 109 family members of HTLV-I- or HTLV-II-infected patients. We also confirmed the high rate occurrence of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma among lymphoproliferative disorders in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Cell Markers Laboratory of Instituto Nacional do Cancer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Farias de Carvalho
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Pombo de Oliveira
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Thuler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rios
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rubim
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Catovsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001782:Blood Donors; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies