Chen Y M, Okayama A, Lee T H, Tachibana N, Mueller N, Essex M
Department of Cancer Biology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Feb 15;88(4):1182-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.4.1182.
The tax gene product (Tax protein) of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) is a specific transcriptional activator of the viral long terminal repeat sequence and is essential for the replication cycle of the virus. To elucidate the relationship between the presence of anti-Tax antibody and the transmission of the viral infection, annual consecutive serum samples from married couples serologically discordant or concordant for HTLV-I were examined. These included 5 individuals whose spouses seroconverted during this 5-year follow-up study period. The samples were tested by a Western blot assay using a recombinant Tax protein as the antigen. The results showed that 24 of 32 (75%) men in the concordant couples (both husband and wife were HTLV-I carriers) had anti-Tax antibody, while only 5 of 18 (27.8%) men in the discordant couples (husband was carrier and wife was seronegative to HTLV-I) were positive for anti-Tax antibody (P = 0.0012). Furthermore, all spouses of the 5 seroconverters (4 women and 1 man) had anti-Tax antibody, while only 23 of 46 (50%) age-matched randomly selected HTLV-I carriers from the discordant-couple group had anti-Tax antibody. When the data were analyzed by gender, all husbands of the female seroconverters had anti-Tax antibodies, which was significantly higher than the prevalence of anti-Tax antibodies in men who did not transmit the virus to their spouses during the follow-up period (P = 0.017). In addition, antibody reactivity to other HTLV-I antigens (including Env gp46, transmembrane protein gp21, and Gag p19 and p24) were examined. The results indicated no significant differences between the prevalence of antibody reactivity to any of the antigens in the spouses of the seroconverters and the reference group. We conclude that the presence of anti-Tax antibody in men may indicate a high risk of viral transmission to their wives via heterosexual routes.
人类嗜T淋巴细胞病毒I型（HTLV-I）的tax基因产物（Tax蛋白）是病毒长末端重复序列的特异性转录激活因子，对病毒的复制周期至关重要。为阐明抗Tax抗体的存在与病毒感染传播之间的关系，对HTLV-I血清学不一致或一致的已婚夫妇连续年度血清样本进行了检测。其中包括5名个体，其配偶在这5年随访研究期间发生了血清转化。样本通过以重组Tax蛋白为抗原的蛋白质印迹法进行检测。结果显示，血清学一致的夫妇（夫妻双方均为HTLV-I携带者）中，32名男性中有24名（75%）有抗Tax抗体，而血清学不一致的夫妇（丈夫为携带者，妻子对HTLV-I血清学阴性）中，18名男性中只有5名（27.8%）抗Tax抗体呈阳性（P = 0.0012）。此外，5名血清转化者的所有配偶（4名女性和1名男性）均有抗Tax抗体，而从血清学不一致夫妇组中随机选取的46名年龄匹配的HTLV-I携带者中只有23名（50%）有抗Tax抗体。按性别分析数据时，女性血清转化者的所有丈夫均有抗Tax抗体，这显著高于随访期间未将病毒传播给配偶的男性中抗Tax抗体的患病率（P = 0.017）。此外，还检测了对其他HTLV-I抗原（包括Env gp46、跨膜蛋白gp21以及Gag p19和p24）的抗体反应性。结果表明，血清转化者配偶中对任何一种抗原的抗体反应性患病率与参照组之间无显著差异。我们得出结论，男性体内抗Tax抗体的存在可能表明通过异性途径将病毒传播给其妻子的风险较高。
