Concomitant infection of HTLV-I and HIV-1: prevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies in Washington, D.C. area

• Published in: European journal of epidemiology Vol. 4; no. 4; p. 426
• Main Authors: Chang, K S, Wang, L C, Gao, C L, Alexander, S, Ting, R C, Bodner, A, Log, T, Kuo, A F, Strickland, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01.12.1988
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - complications; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - epidemiology; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - immunology; Adult; Aged; Blotting, Western - methods; Deltaretrovirus Infections - complications; Deltaretrovirus Infections - epidemiology; Deltaretrovirus Infections - immunology; District of Columbia; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; HIV - immunology; HIV Antibodies - analysis; Homosexuality; HTLV-I Antibodies - analysis; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - immunology; Humans; Immunoglobulin G - analysis; Immunoglobulin M - analysis; Injections, Intravenous; Male; Middle Aged; Random Allocation; Retrospective Studies; Substance-Related Disorders - immunology; District of Columbia
• ISSN: 0393-2990; 1573-7284
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00146393

Serum samples collected from four groups of individuals in the Washington, D.C. area were examined for the presence of IgG and IgM classes of antibody reacting against HTLV-I and HIV-1. These four groups were: (1) healthy adults with negative premarital VDRL test for syphilis (n = 113), (2) miscellaneous common disease patients (n = 155), (3) drug abusers (n = 130), and (4) homosexual men (n = 187). The former two groups are considered to be low-risk groups, and the latter two, high-risk groups. The prevalence of IgG antibody on ELISA/Western blot tests for these groups were respectively: (1) 5.3%/1.8%, (2) 5.2%/1.9%, (3) 13.9%/4.6%, and (4) 4.3%/1.6% for HTLV-I, and (1) 2.7%/0.9%, (2) 4.5%/0%, (3) 12.3%/5.4%, and (4) 8.0%/5.9% for HIV-1. Instances of possible concomitant infection as shown by the presence of antibodies against both HTLV-I and HIV-1 were found only in the latter two high-risk groups, i.e. two (1.5%) in group (3), and three (1.6%) in group (4) as confirmed by both Western blot and immunofluorescence tests. Out of 97 sera collected from drug abusers in 1985-86 which had IgG antibody by Western blot test against HIV-1, 23 (23.7%) were HTLV-I antibody positive by ELISA test (Group 5), and 8 of these were confirmed by Western blot test. Among these 8 persons, IgM antibody against HTLV-I was found in 2, while that against HIV-1 was positive in 7 persons.