HTLV-I serostatus of mothers of patients with adult T-cell leukemia and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis.
OBJECTIVE
It has been shown that > 90% of mothers of HTLV-I-infected children were themselves carriers of HTLV-I. This study was designed to determine the HTLV-I serostatus of mothers of patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), and to assess the association of age of exposure and disease outcome.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional study of the HTLV-I serostatus of mothers of HTLV-I-seropositive patients with ATL and HAM/TSP, 36 living mothers of patients with ATL and 15 mothers of patients with TSP/HAM were traced and enrolled.


RESULTS
Five of the 15 (33%) mothers of patients with HAM/TSP and 35 of the 36 (97.2%) mothers of patients with ATL were HTLV-I-seropositive. All patients were breast-fed and none received blood transfusions.


CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms that infection with HTLV-I in early childhood can lead to ATL in later life, and that HAM/TSP can also result from early infection but more commonly results from infection acquired in adulthood. There are several reports of posttransfusion HAM/TSP, but ATL has not been reported following blood transfusion except in patients who were immunocompromised. Because the newborn infant is considered to be immunoincompetent, it seems that this is a necessary factor for the development of ATL after infection.
Bartholomew
C
C
University of the West Indies, Department of Medicine, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Jack
N
N
Edwards
J
J
Charles
W
W
Corbin
D
D
Cleghorn
F R
FR
Blattner
W A
WA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000821:virology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013997:Time Factors
D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies