title: Characterization of mannose-binding lectin gene polymorphism among human T-cell lymphotropic virus 1 and 2-infected asymptomatic subjects.
abstract: The present study investigated the association between mannose-binding lectin (MBL) gene polymorphism and the susceptibility to human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection in a group of 83 HTLV-infected asymptomatic subjects (62 HTLV-1 and 21 HTLV-2) and 99 healthy controls. Detection of MBL*A, MBL*B, and MBL*C was performed by amplifying a fragment of 349 bp (exon 1) and submitting the product to restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis with BanI and MboII endonucleases. Allele MBL*D was investigated by sequence-specific primer-polymerase chain reaction. The frequency of MBL*A, MBL*B, and MBL*D was 63%, 22%, and 15% among seropositive subjects and 70%, 14%, and 16% among healthy controls, respectively. Genotype differences were statistically significant (chi2 = 11.57; p = 0.04); the presence of genotype BB was 9.6% among HTLV-infected patients compared with 1% among controls (chi2 = 7.151; p = 0.019). A significant difference of the genotype frequencies between HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infections was observed, but this result could be attributed to the number of investigated HTLV-1-infected subjects. The odds ratio to the presence of BB genotype was 10.453 (1.279 < or = IC95% < or = 85.40; p = 0.019). Results reveal a strong association between MBL polymorphism and HTLV infection. Presence of genotype BB may be associated with the susceptibility to HTLV, but further studies, with a larger number of individuals, will be necessary. MBL polymorphism could possibly have an impact on diseases associated with HTLV infection.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Pará, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Patologia, Laboratório de Virologia, Guamá, Belém.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Pontes
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tamegão-Lopes
authors.forename: L F A
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: M O G
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Ishak
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ishak
authors.forename: J A R
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.forename: A C R
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Vallinoto
mesh_terms: D006800:Deltaretrovirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin