In vivo fluctuation of HTLV-I and HTLV-II proviral load in patients receiving antiretroviral drugs.
HTLV-I and HTLV-II infect T lymphocytes. A high HTLV-I proviral load in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) has been associated with a higher risk of neurologic disease. For HTLV-II, large numbers of infected lymphocytes might contribute to accelerate the immunodeficiency and increase the risk of neuropathy in HTLV-II/HIV-1 coinfected people. We have examined the impact of antiretroviral drugs on HTLV proviral load, testing longitudinal samples collected from 1 HTLV-I infected patient suffering HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM), and two HTLV-II/ HIV-1 coinfected subjects. The HAM patient showed a reduction greater than 2 log in the peripheral proviral load after being treated with zidovudine and lamivudine. In contrast, potent antiretroviral treatment in HIV-1/HTLV-II coinfected carriers produced an initial increase in the HTLV proviral load, which was followed by a reduction greater than 1 log thereafter. In conclusion, antiretroviral drugs seem to reduce HTLV proviral load, although in HIV-1 coinfected persons a transient increase in HTLV proviral load could reflect the rapid blocking of HIV-1 replication occurring in response to therapy, thus causing an increase in the number of circulating T lymphocytes carrying HTLV proviral DNA.
Machuca
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A
Service of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Carlos III, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Soriano
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V
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011533:Proviruses / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology*; D019562:Viral Load; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D019259:Lamivudine; D015215:Zidovudine