title: Seroepidemiology of human T-cell lymphotropic virus 1 infection in hemodialysis patients: should we be concerned about it?
abstract: Human T-cell lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV1) is a lymphotropic virus which can be transmitted through unprotected sexual activity, breast feeding, and blood transfusion. Although most of HTLV1-infected individuals remain asymptomatic carriers, 1% to 5% and 3% to 5% develop adult T-cell leukemia and HTLV1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HTLV1 infection in hemodialysis patients in Sari and Ghaemshahr. This cross-sectional study was conducted on160 patients using random samples selection, and included 80 men and 80 women (mean age, 59.1 &plusmn; 14.7 years). All the samples were screened for HTLV1 antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and positive samples were confirmed by Western blot assay. Only 1 patient had a positive anti-HTLV1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, which was confirmed by Western blot. The overall prevalence of HTLV1 seropositivity was 0.6%. The patient was a 21-year-old woman with a history of multiple blood transfusions. She had a history of unsuccessful kidney transplantation and had been on hemodialysis before transplant, too. This study suggests that HTLV1 infection may not be prevalent in high-risk patients in Mazandaran province, and there is no need for HTLV1 screening of blood samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
authors.forename: Mahbobeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.forename: Atieh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makhlough
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mohammadjafari
authors.forename: Zeinab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nazari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies