Lairmore M D, Jacobson S, Gracia F, De B K, Castillo L, Larreategui M, Roberts B D, Levine P H, Blattner W A, Kaplan J E
Retrovirus Disease Branch, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Nov;87(22):8840-4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.22.8840.
Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is associated with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and with a chronic degenerative myelopathy. However, another major type of HTLV, HTLV-II, has been isolated only sporadically, and little is known of disease associations, transmission routes, and risk factors for HTLV-II infection. Recent studies indicate that a high percentage of certain groups of i.v. drug users and blood donors are infected with HTLV-II. Seroepidemiologic studies have found an elevated rate of seroreactivity to HTLV among Guaymi Indians from Bocas del Toro Province, Panama. To identify the cause of seroreactivity among this unique population we used HTLV-II-specific polymerase chain reaction techniques to detect HTLV genetic sequences from blood leukocytes of three seropositive Guaymi Indians. The HTLV-II primer-amplified polymerase chain reaction products from two of these subjects were partially sequenced and matched published HTLV-II nucleotide sequences in both p24 gag (94% of 107 bases) and pol (98% of 112 bases) regions. A CD4+ T-lymphocyte line established from one of these same subjects produced HTLV-II-specific proteins when tested in antigen-capture and immunoblot assays, as well as mature HTLV particles. The demonstration of HTLV-II infection in this geographically and culturally isolated Central American Indian population without typical risk factors for HTLV infection suggests that HTLV-II infection is endemic in this population and provides an important clue to potential natural reservoir for this virus.
人类嗜T淋巴细胞病毒I型（HTLV-I）与成人T细胞白血病/淋巴瘤以及慢性退行性脊髓病有关。然而，HTLV的另一种主要类型，即HTLV-II，仅偶尔被分离出来，人们对其疾病关联、传播途径和HTLV-II感染的危险因素知之甚少。最近的研究表明，某些静脉注射吸毒者和献血者群体中感染HTLV-II的比例很高。血清流行病学研究发现，来自巴拿马博卡斯德尔托罗省的瓜伊米印第安人中，对HTLV的血清反应率有所升高。为了确定这一独特人群中血清反应的原因，我们使用HTLV-II特异性聚合酶链反应技术，从三名血清阳性的瓜伊米印第安人的血液白细胞中检测HTLV基因序列。其中两名受试者的HTLV-II引物扩增聚合酶链反应产物进行了部分测序，在p24 gag（107个碱基中的94%）和pol（112个碱基中的98%）区域与已发表的HTLV-II核苷酸序列匹配。从这些受试者中的一名建立的CD4+T淋巴细胞系，在抗原捕获和免疫印迹试验中检测时产生了HTLV-II特异性蛋白，以及成熟的HTLV颗粒。在这个没有典型HTLV感染危险因素的地理和文化上孤立的中美洲印第安人群体中证实了HTLV-II感染，这表明HTLV-II感染在该人群中是地方性的，并为该病毒的潜在天然宿主提供了重要线索。
