Oral manifestations of human T-cell lymphotropic virus infection in adult patients from Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first human retrovirus discovered and its pathogenesis is related to T cells infection. This study aimed to verify the presence of oral manifestations in a Brazilian population of patients who was seropositive for HTLV, and identify risk factors for oral manifestations.


METHODS
An assessment was made of 139 patients at the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases.


RESULTS
A total of 112 (80.5%) patients were HTLV-1, 26 (18.7%) were HTLV-2+. About 35.2% of patients had myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), with 48 of them being HTLV-1+ and one patient was seropositive for HTLV-1 and -2. The most common oral manifestations were: xerostomia (26.8%), candidiasis (20.8%), fissured tongue (17.9%), and loss of tongue papillae (10.0%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HAM/TSP is an independent risk factor for xerostomia (P = 0.02). The patients who were HAM/TSP+ were three times more likely to develop xerostomia when compared with patients without HAM/TSP (odds ratio = 2.69, 95% confidence interval = 1.17-6.17).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the fact that the findings of this study suggest a relationship between xerostomia and HAM/TSP, more studies should be developed to show what the association would be between xerostomia presented by HTLV patients and pathogenesis of the virus.
Martins
F M
FM
Special Care Dentistry Center, Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Casseb
J
J
Penalva-de-Oliveira
A C
AC
de Paiva
M F R M
MF
Watanuki
F
F
Ortega
K L
KL
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001938:Brazil; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000175:diagnosis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015491:HTLV-II Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000175:diagnosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013650:Taste Buds / Q000473:pathology; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D014063:Tongue, Fissured / Q000175:diagnosis; D019562:Viral Load; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000175:diagnosis