title: HTLV-I/II seroindeterminate Western blot reactivity in a cohort of patients with neurological disease.
abstract: The human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is associated with a chronic, progressive neurological disease known as HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis. Screening for HTLV-I involves the detection of virus-specific serum antibodies by EIA and confirmation by Western blot. HTLV-I/II seroindeterminate Western blot patterns have been described worldwide. However, the significance of this blot pattern is unclear. We identified 8 patients with neurological disease and an HTLV-I/II seroindeterminate Western blot pattern, none of whom demonstrated increased spontaneous proliferation and HTLV-I-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity. However, HTLV-I tax sequence was amplified from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 4 of them. These data suggest that patients with chronic progressive neurological disease and HTLV-I/II Western blot seroindeterminate reactivity may harbor either defective HTLV-I, novel retrovirus with partial homology to HTLV-I, or HTLV-I in low copy number.
authors.affiliation: Viral Immunology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Soldan
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Waziri
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Flerlage
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawanishi
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Leist
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lehky
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005814:Genes, Viral; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015482:HTLV-II Antibodies