Evaluation of antioxidant status and oxidative stress markers in HTLV-1 infected individuals: correlation with the severity of virus-induced complications.

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), a well-known member of the retroviridae family, potentially causes serious outcomes including adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM-TSP). Oxidative stress plays a key role in progression and clinical exacerbation of several chronic infections. We have previously shown a reduction in serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) during HTLV-1 infection and this study was set out to investigate the reasons for TAC reduction. Oxidant/antioxidant imbalance during HTLV-1 infection may result from disruptions in oxidant levels or antioxidant defence system. This study aimed to analyse the key enzymes and oxidant molecules playing important roles in virus-induced oxidative stress. We measured serum activities of the major antioxidant enzymes; superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) as well as serum concentrations of the main oxidant markers: nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Totally 40 HTLV-1 infected patients and 40 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The patient group consisted of chronic carriers and patients with HAM-TSP (=20). The current study found that serum levels of MDA and NO were significantly higher in patient groups particularly in HAM-TSP patients (<0.05). In addition, a reductive trend was observed in the serum activities of CAT, SOD, and GPX in HTLV-1 infected patients compared with healthy controls (<0.05). Reduced activities of CAT, SOD, and GPX antioxidant enzymes along with the observed elevated concentrations of oxidant molecules may contribute to oxidative stress and worse outcomes during HTLV-1 infection.