Persistent paradox of natural history of human T lymphotropic virus type I: parallel analyses of Japanese and Jamaican carriers.
Human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is endemic in southern Japan and the Caribbean, but the incidence of HTLV-I-associated diseases varies across geographic areas. We compared markers of disease pathogenesis among 51 age- and sex-matched HTLV-I carrier pairs from Japan and Jamaica. The mean antibody titer (P=.03) and detection of anti-Tax antibody (P=.002) were higher in Jamaican subjects than in Japanese subjects, but provirus load was similar between the 2 groups (P=.26). The correlation between antibody titer and provirus load was more prominent among Jamaican subjects than among Japanese subjects (P=.06). These findings underscore the differences in host immune response to HTLV-I infection in 2 populations.
Viral Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA. hisadam@exchange.nih.gov.
Michie
M
Hisada
Sherri O
SO
Stuver
Akihiko
A
Okayama
Hong-Chuan
HC
Li
Takashi
T
Sawada
Barrie
B
Hanchard
Nancy E
NE
Mueller
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002353:Carrier State; D005260:Female; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000276:immunology; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D011533:Proviruses / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014766:Viremia
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D016356:Gene Products, tax