title: Absence of human T-lymphotropic virus type I tax sequences in a population of normal blood donors in the Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC, area: results from a multicenter study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It was reported recently that sequences corresponding to the human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) tax gene were detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 8 to 11 percent of healthy blood donors without detectable antibodies to HTLV-I. A multicenter blind study was conducted to determine if these results could be independently confirmed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Specimens were collected from 100 anti-HTLV-I-negative healthy blood donors and from 11 anti-HTLV-I- or anti-HTLV-II-positive individuals. All samples were coded and distributed to each of four independent testing laboratories for polymerase chain reaction analysis to detect sequences of the HTLV-I or HTLV-II tax gene, using detailed procedures specified by the laboratory reporting the original observation. Each laboratory also tested a dilution panel of a plasmid containing HTLV-I tax to determine the analytical sensitivity of the procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analytical sensitivity of the screening methods permitted detection of as few as 1 to 10 copies of the tax gene. However, HTLV-I tax sequences could not be detected in any of the anti-HTLV-I-negative blood donors at more than one test site.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HTLV-I tax sequences appear not to be present in this population of 100 blood donors negative for anti-HTLV-I.
authors.affiliation: Transfusion Medicine Scientific Research Group, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. cowan@cber.fda.gov
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Nemo
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vallejo
authors.forename: I K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Hewlett
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Dezzutti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gallahan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Pancake
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zucker-Franklin
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: McCurdy
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tabor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D001782:Blood Donors; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006800:Deltaretrovirus Infections / Q000097:blood; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D016355:Genes, pX / Q000502:physiology*; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies