title: Is it necessary to test patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) for seropositivity to HTLV-1?
abstract: HTLV-111 (HIV-1) has been shown to be associated with thrombocytopenia of a type resembling immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). HTLV-1 is a retrovirus similar to HIV-I (HTLV-III) in a number of features, such as CD4 tropism. It is responsible for several clinical entities, including adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. The relationship, if any, of HTLV-1 and thrombocytopenia has not been systematically studied. To determine how frequently ITP patients are commonly infected with HTLV-1, the following study was performed. Frozen serum samples from 123 randomly selected patients with ITP were thawed and tested for antibodies to HTLV-1 by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. Positives were confirmed by Western blot. Three patients were initially found to be positive for HTLV-1. One was a female of Caribbean ancestry, one was a male HIV-1+ patient, and one was an adolescent female with no known risk factors for HIV-1. The two females later tested negative for HTLV-1. As a screening program for HTLV-1 antibodies was not introduced into blood banks until November 1988, there may have been passive transfer of the virus from intravenous immunoglobulin that these patients had received. This study of a large number of ITP patients shows that it is extremely unlikely that they are infected with HTLV-1, and, therefore, it is unnecessary to screen ITP patients for seropositivity to HTLV-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, New York/ Cornell University Medical College, New York 10021, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calleja
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bussel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D015497:HIV-1; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007154:Immune System Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D011696:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies