Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) may impact the clinical course of tuberculosis (TB). Both infections are highly endemic in Brazil. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in TB patients in Central-West Brazil and to perform a genetic characterisation of the respective isolates. Of the 402 patients, six (1.49%) were positive for anti-HTLV and five (1.24%; 95% confid...

Human T cell leukemia viruses (HTLVs) are complex human retroviruses of the Deltaretrovirus genus. Four types have been identified thus far, with HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 much more prevalent than HTLV-3 or HTLV-4. HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 possess strictly related genomic structures, but differ significantly in pathogenicity, as HTLV-1 is the causative agent of adult T cell leukemia and of HTLV-associated mye...

To better understand the origins and modes of transmission of HTLV-3 and to search for other retroviral infections (HTLV-1, HTLV-2, foamy viruses), we studied the family of a HTLV-3-infected individual (Pyl43), from Cameroon. Thirty-five persons were included. All adult men were still actively hunting nonhuman primates (NHP). All women were also butchering and cutting-up animals. Five persons r...

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, ...

Until now, serologic tests that distinguish the closely related human T-cell lymphotropic virus types I (HTLV-I) and II (HTLV-II) infections have not been available. Synthetic peptide assays, employing peptides derived from the core and envelope proteins of HTLV-I and HTLV-II (SynthEIA and Select-HTLV tests), were evaluated for the ability to serologically discriminate HTLV-I and HTLV-II infect...

HTLV-1 cellular transformation and disease induction is dependent on expression of the viral Tax oncoprotein. PDZ is a modular protein interaction domain used in organizing signaling complexes in eukaryotic cells through recognition of a specific binding motif in partner proteins. Tax-1, but not Tax-2, contains a PDZ-binding domain motif (PBM) that promotes the interaction with several cellular...

Human T cell lymphotrophic Virus 1 (HTLV-1) is endemic in the Caribbean, parts of South America, West Africa, Asia and Oceania but rare in North America. After a prolonged latency, HTLV-1 is associated with development of acute T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) in 2–5% of infected individuals and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM) in a smaller percentage. Screening tests do not distinguish between...

Pseudotypes of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) bearing envelope antigens of human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) types 1 and 2 were prepared by propagating VSV in cells lines productively infected with HTLV. Plaque assays of VSV (HTLV) pseudotypes were employed to determine the presence of (i) HTLV receptors on cells and (ii) neutralizing antibodies in the serum of patients with adult T-cell leu...