A determinant of human T-lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) development is the HTLV-1-infected cell burden. Viral proteins Tax and HBZ, encoded by the sense and antisense strands of the pX region, respectively, play key roles in HTLV-1 persistence. Tax drives CD4(+)-T cell clonal expansion and is the immunodominant viral antigen recognized...

BACKGROUND There is a significant association of human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV) with lymphoid malignancies. HTLV causes a lymphoproliferative malignancy of CD4-activated cells called adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and a chronic myelopathy called tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM). This study aims to determine the prevalence of HTLV among patients with...

In the search for anti-human T-lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I) compounds, we have evaluated several compounds for their inhibitory effects on HTLV-I replication in cell cultures. Among the test compounds, the fluoroquinolone derivative 7-(3,4-dehydro-4-phenyl-1-piperidinyl)-1,4-dihydro-6-fluoro-1-methyl-8- trifluoromethyl-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (K-37) was found to be a potent and s...

AIM This study was designed to evaluate the frequency of antibody against these viruses in individuals attending the endoscopy ward of Taleghani hospital Tehran, Iran. BACKGROUND Blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus and HTLV-1 virus are among the world's public health problems. Hepatitis viruses cause liver problems and HTLV-1 infection can lead to adult T-Cell lympho...

Human T lymphotropic virus-I (HTLV-I)-specific T cell lines were established and cloned. K5, an OKT8+ clone bearing multiple proviral integration sites, retained its HTLV-I-specific cytotoxicity and a normal dependence on interleukin 2 (IL-2), indicating that there is a finite number of transforming integration sites. R2, an OKT4+ HTLV-I-infected clone, initially mounted a proliferative respons...

That HTLV-I is not a latent infection is indicated by the detection of mRNA in the peripheral blood and CNS of patients with HTLV-I infection and by the persisting humoral and cellular immune responses. Indeed the frequency of anti-HTLV CTL is extremely high. The reduction in anti-TAX CTL frequency following reduction in proviral load suggests that removal of viral antigen may result in a reduc...

The role of the cellular immune response in human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) infection is not fully understood. A persistently activated cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response to HTLV-I is found in the majority of infected individuals. However, it remains unclear whether this CTL response is protective or causes tissue damage. In addition, several observations paradoxically suggest th...

A human retrovirus--human T cell lymphotropic virus-III (HTLV-III)--has recently emerged as the probable cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In May 1984, 250 outpatients at a hospital in a remote area of eastern Zaire were surveyed for AIDS type illnesses and the prevalence of antibodies against HTLV-III determined by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay using disrupted whole HT...

To discern the T cell subtype associated with T cell differentiation, the expression of CD45RA and CD27 was measured from total CD8(high) cells and from human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) Tax11-19 peptide-specific CD8(+) cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Phenotypically defined memory and/or ef...

Three rat lymphoid cell lines (TARS-1, TARL-2, and TART-1) (12) transformed by human T cell leukemia/lymphoma virus I (HTLV-I) had rearrangement of the beta chain gene of the T cell antigen receptor, and had integrated proviral DNA from HTLV-I in their genomes. As is the case with adult T cell leukemia (ATL)-derived human T cell lines transformed by HTLV-I, these rat cell lines unequivocally ex...