LGL leukemia and HTLV

• Published in: AIDS research and human retroviruses Vol. 26; no. 1; p. 33
• Main Authors: Thomas, Anish, Perzova, Raisa, Abbott, Lynn, Benz, Patricia, Poiesz, Michael J, Dube, Syamalima, Loughran, Thomas, Ferrer, Jorge, Sheremata, William, Glaser, Jordan, Leon-Ponte, Matilde, Poiesz, Bernard J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Blotting, Western - methods; Cross Reactions; Endogenous Retroviruses - immunology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Female; HIV-2 - genetics; HIV-2 - immunology; HIV-2 - isolation & purification; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - genetics; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - immunology; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - isolation & purification; Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 - genetics; Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 - immunology; Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 - isolation & purification; Human T-lymphotropic virus 3 - genetics; Human T-lymphotropic virus 3 - immunology; Human T-lymphotropic virus 3 - isolation & purification; Humans; Leukemia Virus, Bovine - immunology; Leukemia, Large Granular Lymphocytic - virology; Male; Middle Aged; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1931-8405
• DOI: 10.1089/aid.2009.0124

Samples were obtained from 53 large granular lymphocytic leukemia (LGLL) patients and 10,000 volunteer blood donors (VBD). Sera were screened in an HTLV-1 enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and further analyzed in peptide-specific Western blots (WB). DNAs were analyzed by HTLV-1, -2, -3, and -4-specific PCR. Forty four percent of LGLL patients vs. 0.12 % of VBD had anti-HTLV antibodies via EIA (p < 0.001). WB and PCR revealed that four LGLL patients (7.5%) vs. one VBD patient (0.01%) were infected with HTLV-2 (p < 0.001), suggesting an HTLV-2 etiology in a minority of cases. No LGLL patient was positive for HTLV-1, -3, or -4, whereas only one EIA-positive VBD was positive for HTLV-1 and none for HTLV-3 or -4. The HTLV EIA-positive, PCR-negative LGLL patients' sera reacted to epitopes within HTLV p24 gag and gp21 env. Other then the PTLV/BLV viruses, human endogenous retroviral element HERV K10 was the only sequence homologous to these two HTLV peptides, raising the possibility of cross-reactivity. Although three LGLL patients (5.7%) vs. none of 110 VBD patients tested positive for antibodies to the homologous HERV K10 peptide (p = 0.03), the significance of the anti-HTLV seroreactivity observed in many LGLL patients remains unclear. Interestingly, out of 36 HTLV-1-positive control subjects, 3 (8%) (p = 0.014) were positive for antibodies to HERV K10; all three had myelopathy. Out of 64 HTLV-2-positive control subjects 16 (25%) (p = <0.001) were positive for HERV K10 antibodies, and 4 (6%) of these had myelopathy. Out of 22 subjects with either HTLV-1 or -2 myelopathy, 7 (31.8%) were positive for HERV K10 antibodies, and out of 72 HTLV-infected subjects without myelopathy, 12 (16.7%) were positive for anti-HERV K10 antibodies (p = 0.11). The prevalence of anti-HERV K10 antibodies in these populations and the clinical implications thereof need to be pursued further.