Takemura Taichiro, Yamashita Masahiro, Shimada Makoto K, Ohkura Sadayuki, Shotake Takayoshi, Ikeda Mikio, Miura Tomoyuki, Hayami Masanori
Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
J Virol. 2002 Feb;76(4):1642-8. doi: 10.1128/jvi.76.4.1642-1648.2002.
Simian T-cell leukemia viruses (STLVs) are the simian counterparts of human T-cell leukemia viruses (HTLVs). A novel, divergent type of STLV (STLV-L) from captive baboons was reported in 1994, but its natural prevalence remained unclear. We investigated the prevalence of STLV-L in 519 blood samples from wild-living nonhuman primates in Ethiopia. Seropositive monkeys having cross-reactive antibodies against HTLV were found among 22 out of 40 hamadryas baboons, 8 of 96 anubis baboons, 24 of 50 baboons that are hybrids between hamadryas and anubis baboons, and 41 of 177 grivet monkeys, but not in 156 gelada baboons. A Western blotting assay showed that sera obtained from seropositive hamadryas and hybrid baboons exhibited STLV-L-like reactivity. A PCR assay successfully amplified STLV sequences, which were subsequently sequenced and confirmed as being closely related to STLV-L. Surprisingly, further PCR showed that nearly half of the hamadryas (20 out of 40) and hybrid (19 out of 50) baboons had STLV-L DNA sequences. In contrast, most of the seropositive anubis baboons and grivet monkeys carried typical STLV-1 but not STLV-L. These observations demonstrate that STLV-L naturally prevails among hamadryas and hybrid baboons at significantly high rates. STLV-1 and -2, the close relative of STLV-L, are believed to have jumped across simian-human barriers, which resulted in widespread infection of HTLV-1 and -2. Further studies are required to know if STLV-L is spreading into human populations.
猴T细胞白血病病毒（STLVs）是人类T细胞白血病病毒（HTLVs）的猴类对应物。1994年报道了一种来自圈养狒狒的新型、不同类型的STLV（STLV-L），但其自然流行率仍不清楚。我们调查了埃塞俄比亚野生非人灵长类动物的519份血液样本中STLV-L的流行情况。在40只阿拉伯狒狒中的22只、96只东非狒狒中的8只、阿拉伯狒狒和东非狒狒杂交的50只狒狒中的24只以及177只灰绿狒狒中的41只中发现了对HTLV有交叉反应抗体的血清阳性猴子，但在156只狮尾狒狒中未发现。蛋白质印迹分析表明，从血清阳性的阿拉伯狒狒和杂交狒狒获得的血清表现出STLV-L样反应性。聚合酶链反应（PCR）分析成功扩增出STLV序列，随后对其进行测序并确认为与STLV-L密切相关。令人惊讶的是，进一步的PCR显示，近一半的阿拉伯狒狒（40只中的20只）和杂交狒狒（50只中的19只）具有STLV-L DNA序列。相比之下，大多数血清阳性的东非狒狒和灰绿狒狒携带典型的STLV-1而非STLV-L。这些观察结果表明，STLV-L在阿拉伯狒狒和杂交狒狒中自然流行率显著较高。STLV-L的近亲STLV-1和-2被认为跨越了猴-人屏障，导致HTLV-1和-2的广泛感染。需要进一步研究以了解STLV-L是否正在传播到人类群体中。
