The human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) is the cause of adult T cell leukaemias/lymphoma. Because thymic epithelial cells (TEC) express recently defined receptors for the virus, it seemed conceivable that these cells might be a target for HTLV-1 infection. We developed an in vitro co-culture system comprising HTLV-1+-infected T cells and human TECs. Infected T cells did adhere to TECs an...

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with uncertain etiology. for many years, viruses have been suspected as causative agents. there are conflicting reports about the possible role of viruses such as human herpes virus 8 (hhv8) and retroviruses in the pathogenesis of the sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. we conducted a prospective case-control study to ...

Cutaneous involvement is frequent in adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL), a peripheral T-cell neoplasm caused by human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). Patients with ATLL manifest different types of skin lesions, including nodules, plaques, ulcers, erythroderma and purpura. It has been reported that this type of skin eruption is an independent prognostic factor for ATLL. We report ...

Background: Adult T cell leukemia lymphoma (ATLL) is a rare disease, significantly linked to the infection by the human T-cell lymphotropic virus 1(HTLV-1). ATLL is typically preceded by decades of clinical latency during which infected cells accumulate selectable traits leading to a malignant transformation. Amongst all the HTLV-1 infected carriers only about 3-5% will develop ATLL. Despite th...