Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes T-cell malignancies in a small percentage of the population infected with the virus after a long carrier state. In the present study, we established a seronegative HTLV-1 carrier state in rats inoculated with a newly established HTLV-1-infected rat T cell line, FPM1. FPM1 originated from rat thymocytes cocultured with a human HTLV-1 producer, M...

BACKGROUND No association between the Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV), an oncogenic virus that alters host immunity, and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has previously been reported. Examining the association between these two viruses may permit the identification of a population at increased risk for developing cervical cancer. METHODS AND FINDINGS Between July 2010 and February 2011, ...

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or with signs or symptoms that frequently precede AIDS (pre-AIDS) were grown in vitro with added T-cell growth factor and assayed for the expression and release of human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV). Retroviruses belonging to the HTLV family and collectively designated HTLV-III were isolated from...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The linear epitopes of gp46-I, gp46-II, gp21 and p19 are used in diagnosis of HTLV-I/-II infections. The aims of this study was to obtain high-level expression and purification of recombinant antigen (RA) containing these epitopes. Large-scale preparation of such antigen probably worths for diagnostic purpose. MATERIALS AND METHODS The synthetic DNA encoding RA was s...

BACKGROUND Human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is an inflammatory disease which occurs in less than 2% of HTLV-I -infected individuals. High proviral load, high HTLV-I-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte frequency (CTL) and host genetic factors such as HLA all appear to be associated with HTLV-I infection. Previous studie...

We review here the epidemiological studies performed by our group on human retrovirus HTLV-I and HTLV-II infections and the associated diseases in French Guiana since 1984. French Guiana is an overseas French administrative district located between Brazil and Surinam. Its population is characterized by a large variety of ethnic groups, including several populations of African origin and various...

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1)-infected T-cell lines constitutively produce high levels of interleukin-la (ILla). To analyze the mechanisms that lead t o the expression of ILla in HTLV-I-infected cell lines, we studied regulatory regions of the human IL-la promoter involved in activation of the IL-la gene. IL-la promoter constructs drive transcription of the chloramphenicol acetylt...

Extensive studies of human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV)-1 and HTLV-2 over the last three decades have provided detailed knowledge on viral transformation, host-viral interactions and pathogenesis. HTLV-1 is the etiological agent of adult T cell leukemia and multiple neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases while HTLV-2 disease association remains elusive, with few infected individuals displa...

Recently, some of us presented data concerning HIV frequency in female sex workers (FSW) from the port city of Imbituba, Santa Catarina (SC), Southern Brazil. Out of 90 FSW, six (6.7%) were found to be HIV-positive, and significant association were found between HIV infection and the number of clients attended per day (p = 0.008), and sexual relations without frequent use of condoms (p = 0.015)...

The location of cis-acting regulatory regions within the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1) was determined. The sequences present between nucleotides -350 and -55 (cap site +1) contain an enhancer element that is active in lymphoid and nonlymphoid cell lines. The sequences located near the "TATA" and RNA initiation sites contain a promoter, the activit...