[Presence of anti-HTLV (human T-cell leukemia virus) antibodies in blood donors from Martinique].

Using indirect membrane immunofluorescence on unfixed HUT 102 cells, 24 out of 184 sera (13%) collected from regular blood donors in Martinique were found positive for HTLV-MA antibodies, 10 being strongly positive (5.4%). Six of these sera were further tested by radio-immunoprecipitation in gel electrophoresis. Antibodies to both viral main core protein (p24) and to virus specific membrane associated glycoprotein (gp 61) were detected in five of those. These findings raise the question of the existence of HTLV related conditions (leukemias or AIDS) in Martinique.