HTLV-I infection of cerebrospinal fluid T cells from patients with chronic neurologic disease.

Antibodies reacting with HTLV-I, the etiologic agent of acute T cell leukemia/lymphoma and a transforming agent for T4-positive lymphocytes in vitro, have recently been described in sera of patients with chronic neurologic disease in the absence of lymphoproliferative disorders. The largest number of such cases was described in Japan and in the Caribbean and parts of South America. We report here two cases of patients with chronic neurologic disease whose cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-derived T cells contain HTLV-I specific RNA sequences and antigens and are expressing retroviral particles. Only one of these patients has demonstrable antibody to HTLV-I in serum or CSF.