title: Unusual CD4+CD8+ phenotype in a greek patient diagnosed with adult T-cell leukemia positive for human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I).
abstract: We describe the first Greek patient diagnosed with Adult T cell leukemia (ATL) characterized by an expansion of CD4+CD8+ double positive lymphocytes. Low levels of plasma antibodies against HTLV-I Env and Gag proteins were detected. Analysis of the the patient's DNA revealed that she was infected by a cosmopolitan strain of HTLV-I. Since HTLV-I usually leads to the expansion of CD4+ cells, this patient illustrates a rare immunophenotype, which suggests that the HTLV-I-induced proliferative response may occur in a pre-T cell stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Metaxa Cancer Hospital of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ciminale
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hatziyanni
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Felber
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bear
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hatzakis
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Pavlakis
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies