Oloumbou Eldridge Fedricksen, Ledaga Lentombo Léonie, Obame-Nkoghe Judicaël, Iba-Ba Josaphat, Engone Ondo Jeordy Dimitri, Ognari Ayoumi Christ, Yaro Moussa, Diané Abdoulaye, Kouna Ndouongo Philomène, Boguikouma Jean-Bruno, Mfouo-Tynga Ivan, Mouinga-Ondémé Augustin
Unité des Infections Rétrovirales et Pathologies associées, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon.
Service de Médecine Interne, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Libreville (CHUL), Libreville, Gabon.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025 May 14;19(5):e0013075. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0013075. eCollection 2025 May.
The Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) infection is endemic in Gabon, and despite the high prevalence, very few cases of HTLV-1 associated diseases are sporadically described. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the main teaching hospital of Gabon. Using serological and molecular techniques, plasma samples were tested and nucleic materials of all positive samples extracted from the buffy coat, then a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect fragments of 220 and 522-base-pairs of HTLV-1 Tax/Rex and Env genes, respectively. From March to September 2022, a total of 352 participants (51 median age, IQR 36-62) were recruited, consisting of 290 (82.4%) patients and 65 (17.6%) patients' family members. Of them, 36 (10.2%) samples were ELISA seropositive, and according to WB criteria, 22 were HTLV-1 positive (6.3%), 7 indeterminate (2%), 5 seronegative (1.4%) and 2 had HTLV seroreactivity (0.6%). The HTLV-1 infection was confirmed in 26 individuals (22 patients and 4 among their family members) with an overall prevalence estimated at 7.39% (26/352), and 3.7% (10/272) prevalence for diseases associated to HTLV-1, obtained from all clinical diagnoses. The link assessment between HTLV-1 infection and diseases' occurrence revealed 10.5% of cases of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (2/19), 55.6% of tropical spastic paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (5/9) and 60% of inflammatory myopathies (3/5). Most of the detected genotypes of HTLV-1 strains belonged to the central African HTLV-1b, four defined as HTLV-1a including a-Na, a-Wa and a-TC subclades, and one belonging to the HTLV-1d. Then, assessment of HTLV-1 intrafamilial transmission and risk factors reported one case of mother-to-child HTLV-1 transmission, and significant impacts of association between HTLV-1 infection with the gender and birthplaces were observed. Here, we discussed both the prevalence of HTLV-1 infection among patients and diseases previously described as associated to this retrovirus in Gabon. Our findings highlight the necessity to develop strategies to prevent and properly manage this infection.
人类嗜T淋巴细胞病毒1型（HTLV-1）感染在加蓬呈地方性流行，尽管感染率很高，但散发性描述的HTLV-1相关疾病病例却很少。在加蓬的主要教学医院进行了一项横断面研究。使用血清学和分子技术对血浆样本进行检测，并从血沉棕黄层中提取所有阳性样本的核酸材料，然后进行聚合酶链反应（PCR），以分别检测HTLV-1 Tax/Rex基因和Env基因的220个碱基对和522个碱基对的片段。2022年3月至9月，共招募了352名参与者（中位年龄51岁，四分位距36 - 62岁），其中包括290名（82.4%）患者和65名（17.6%）患者家属。其中，36份（10.2%）样本ELISA血清学呈阳性，根据免疫印迹标准，22份为HTLV-1阳性（6.3%），7份不确定（2%），5份血清学阴性（1.4%），2份具有HTLV血清反应性（0.6%）。在26名个体（22名患者及其4名家庭成员）中确诊了HTLV-1感染，总体感染率估计为7.39%（26/352），从所有临床诊断中得出与HTLV-1相关疾病的患病率为3.7%（10/272）。HTLV-1感染与疾病发生之间的关联评估显示，成人T细胞白血病/淋巴瘤病例占10.5%（2/19），热带痉挛性截瘫/HTLV-1相关脊髓病占55.6%（5/9），炎性肌病占60%（3/5）。检测到的大多数HTLV-1毒株基因型属于中非HTLV-1b，4种被定义为HTLV-1a，包括a-Na、a-Wa和a-TC亚分支，1种属于HTLV-1d。然后，对HTLV-1家庭内传播和危险因素的评估报告了1例母婴HTLV-1传播病例，并观察到HTLV-1感染与性别和出生地之间关联的显著影响。在此，我们讨论了加蓬患者中HTLV-1感染的患病率以及先前描述的与这种逆转录病毒相关的疾病。我们的研究结果强调了制定预防和妥善管理这种感染策略的必要性。
