Immune Responsiveness to the Immunodominant Recombinant Envelope Epitopes of Human T Lymphotropic Virus Types I and II in Diverse Geographic Populations

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 166; no. 5; pp. 1160 - 1163
• Main Authors: Buckner, Cindy, Roberts, Chester R., Foung, Steven K. H., Lipka, James, Reyes, Gregory R., Hadlock, Kenneth, Chan, Lily, Gongora-Biachi, Renan A., Hjelle, Brian, Lal, Renu B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01.11.1992; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Africa; AIDS/HIV; Amino acids; Antibodies; Biological and medical sciences; Blood donation; Blood Donors; Concise Communications; Epitopes; Epitopes - analysis; Gene Products, gag - analysis; Gene Products, gag - immunology; Geography; HTLV-I Antibodies - blood; HTLV-II Antibodies - blood; Human T lymphotropic virus 1; Human T lymphotropic virus 2; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - immunology; Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 - immunology; Humans; Immunoassay; Immunodominant epitopes; Infectious diseases; Jamaica; Medical sciences; Mexico; North America; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Reactivity; Recombinant Proteins - immunology; South America; Viral Envelope Proteins - analysis; Viral Envelope Proteins - immunology; Viruses; South America; Mexico; Jamaica; North America; Africa; Immunopathology; Chain reaction; Enzyme; Exploration; Medical screening; Epidemiology; Result; Infection; Polymerase; Spectrometry; Enzymatic activity; Immunological investigation; Viral disease; Race; Diagnosis; Technique
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/166.5.1160

The heterogeneity of immune responsiveness to the immunodominant epitopes of human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I (MTA-1162–209) and II (K-55162–205) were determined in natural infections with HTLV-I and -II from diverse geographic areas (n = 285). Of the HTLV-I specimens confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), all North American (n = 37) and Peruvian (n = 19) specimens reacted with MTA-1. Of HTLV-II specimensconfirmed by PCR, 44 (96%) of 46 from North American blood donors, 28 (97%) of 29 from native Americans, and all from intravenous drug users (n = 29) reacted with K-55. Specimens from other geographic areas (Peru, 30; Brazil, 4; Mexico, 10; Italy, 5; Somalia, 13; Ethiopia, 17; Japan, 32; and Jamaica, 15) all reacted either with MTA-1 or K-55. By synthetic peptide-based serologic typing, all of these specimens could be typed as HTLV-I or -II. In addition to the direct implications of these findings for diagnostic purposes, these data provide indirect evidencefor the conservation of immunodominant HTLVenv epitopes in diverse geographic populations.