Gessain A
Département de virologie, CNRS-URA3015, Institut Pasteur, Paris cedex 15, France.
Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 2011 Aug;104(3):167-80. doi: 10.1007/s13149-011-0174-4. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
Human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first oncogenic human retrovirus discovered in 1980. It is estimated that around 10-20 million people are infected with HTLV-1 worldwide. However, HTLV-1 is not a ubiquitous virus. Indeed, HTLV-1 is present throughout the world with clusters of high endemicity including mainly southern Japan, the Caribbean region, parts of South America and intertropical Africa, with foci in the Middle East and Australia. The origin of this puzzling geographical repartition is probably linked to a founder effect in certain human groups. In the high endemic areas, 0.5 to 50% of the people have antibodies against HTLV-1 antigens. HTLV-1 seroprevalence increases with age, especially in women. HTLV-1 has 3 modes of transmission: mother to child, mainly through prolonged breastfeeding (> 6 months); sexual, mainly but not exclusively occurring from male to female; and by blood products contaminated by infected lymphocytes. HTLV-1 is mainly the etiological agent of two very severe diseases: a malignant T CD4+ cell lymphoproliferation of very poor prognosis, named adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), and a chronic neuro-myelopathy named tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (TSP/HAM). HTLV-1 is also associated with rare anterior uveitis, infective dermatitis and myositis in some high HTLV-1 endemic areas. The repartition of the different molecular subtypes or genotypes is mainly linked to the geographical origin of the infected persons but not to the associated pathology. HTLV-1 possesses a remarkable genetic stability probably linked to viral amplification via clonal expansion of infected cells rather than by reverse transcription. This stability can be used as a molecular tool to gain better insights into the origin, evolution and modes of dissemination of HTLV-1 and infected populations. HTLV-1 originated in humans through interspecies transmission from STLV-1, a very closely related retrovirus, highly endemic in several populations of apes and Old World monkeys.
人类T细胞白血病/淋巴瘤病毒1型（HTLV-1）是1980年发现的第一种致癌人类逆转录病毒。据估计，全球约有1000万至2000万人感染HTLV-1。然而，HTLV-1并非普遍存在的病毒。实际上，HTLV-1在世界各地均有存在，呈现高流行簇，主要包括日本南部、加勒比地区、南美洲部分地区和热带非洲，在中东和澳大利亚也有疫源地。这种令人费解的地理分布起源可能与某些人类群体中的奠基者效应有关。在高流行地区，0.5%至50%的人具有抗HTLV-1抗原的抗体。HTLV-1血清阳性率随年龄增加，尤其是在女性中。HTLV-1有三种传播方式：母婴传播，主要通过长时间母乳喂养（>6个月）；性传播，主要但不限于从男性传播给女性；以及通过受感染淋巴细胞污染的血液制品传播。HTLV-1主要是两种非常严重疾病的病原体：一种预后极差的恶性T CD4+细胞淋巴增殖性疾病，称为成人T细胞白血病/淋巴瘤（ATLL），以及一种慢性神经脊髓病，称为热带痉挛性截瘫/HTLV-1相关脊髓病（TSP/HAM）。在一些HTLV-1高流行地区，HTLV-1还与罕见的前葡萄膜炎、感染性皮炎和肌炎有关。不同分子亚型或基因型的分布主要与感染者的地理起源有关，而与相关病理无关。HTLV-1具有显著的遗传稳定性，这可能与通过受感染细胞的克隆扩增而非逆转录进行病毒扩增有关。这种稳定性可作为一种分子工具，以更好地了解HTLV-1及其感染人群的起源、进化和传播方式。HTLV-1是通过与猿猴T淋巴细胞白血病病毒1型（STLV-1）的种间传播而起源于人类的，STLV-1是一种密切相关的逆转录病毒，在几种猿类和旧世界猴种群中高度流行。
