1/15. Long-term non-progression of hiv-1 in a patient coinfected with HTLV-II.A 37-year-old man coinfected with hiv-1 and human T-lymphotropic virus type II presumably through injection drug use had a high CD4 count and low HIV viral load without anti-retroviral therapy for over six years. As an HIV long-term non-progressor, his case supports the hypothesis that coinfection with HTLV-II does not adversely affect the course of HIV disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/15. HTLV-II infection associated with a chronic neurodegenerative disease: clinical and molecular analysis.HTLV II is a retrovirus endemic in some Amerindian tribes and spread worldwide with a high prevalence among intravenous drug abusers. It has three different genetic subtypes a, b, and d, defined mainly by the long terminal repeat (LTR) region. HTLV II has been associated with a neurodegenerative disease in few cases. We describe the first well-documented case in brazil where the virus is endemic in isolated ethnic groups. The patient is a 55-year-old woman with a chronic and painful syndrome characterized by spastic paraparesis, hyperactive reflexes and spastic bladder. Somatosensory evoked potential indicates a thoracic spinal cord lesion. Computer tomography showed periventricular demyelination. enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was positive for HTLV I/II whereas the discriminatory Western blot was indeterminate. Molecular analysis of the Tax region revealed a HTLV II pattern that was also confirmed through sequencing the LTR region. Phylogenetic analysis of the LTR sequence shows an HTLV IIa subtype that clustered with the virus isolated from Kayapo Indians and Brazilian urban intravenous drug users. Indeterminate Western blots are frequently found using commercial kits, therefore we recommend that all cases in which a myelopathy is associated with an indeterminate serological result should be evaluated by PCR to determine the actual number of HTLV II associated myelopathy cases.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/15. A possible case of myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis in an Argentinian woman with human T lymphocyte virus type II.A case of neurological disease featuring human T lymphocyte virus-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) was diagnosed by serological (Western blot) and molecular (polymerase chain reaction) criteria as related to human T lymphocyte virus (HTLV)-II infection. This is, to our knowledge, the first case of this kind found in argentina and is additional evidence that HAM/TSP solely related to HTLV-II infection occurs in HTLV-I-negative subjects.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/15. Chronic neurodegenerative disease associated with HTLV-II infection.Although human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) type I is known to cause a number of diseases, there has been no convincing evidence of pathological changes after infection with the related virus, HTLV-II. We have found an endemic focus of HTLV-II infection among members of an American Indian population in new mexico, USA. We set out to determine the pathological consequences of HTLV-II infection in this population and identified two sisters (aged 59 and 46 years) with a disease superficially resembling the myeloneuropathy induced by HTLV-I. These women had a syndrome similar to the olivopontocerebellar atrophy variant of multiple system atrophy, and HTLV-II infection was confirmed by western blot and the polymerase chain reaction. Thus, HTLV-II may, like HTLV-I, cause a progressive neurodegenerative disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/15. Progressive spastic myelopathy in a patient co-infected with hiv-1 and HTLV-II: autoantibodies to the human homologue of rig in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.OBJECTIVE: Human T-cell leukemia virus types I (HTLV-I) and II (HTLV-II) are closely related human retroviruses. HTLV-I has been implicated in a chronic progressive myelopathy, known as tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) or HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM). We sought to determine whether autoantibodies to brain antigens were present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient with chronic progressive spastic myelopathy with evidence of both hiv-1 infection and HTLV-I/II seropositivity. DESIGN: A 54-year-old bisexual man with clinical features of HAM/TSP of over 20 years' duration was followed. methods: We applied discriminatory dna amplification (polymerase chain reaction) to distinguish HTLV-I from HTLV-II and to verify co-infection with hiv-1. The patient's CSF was used to screen a human brain cDNA expression library to identify antibodies directed against brain antigens. Autoreactive bacteriophage clones were isolated and sequenced. RESULTS: The patient was found to be co-infected with both hiv-1 and HTLV-II, but not with HTLV-I. HTLV-II proviral levels in the peripheral blood remained relatively constant, despite therapy with zidovudine. Prominent oligoclonal banding of immunoglobulins was present in the patient's CSF. A single repeatedly reactive cDNA clone was identified, by screening with CSF antibody, sequenced, and found to be the human homologue of the rat insulinoma gene, rig. CONCLUSIONS: HTLV-II infection may predispose to development of a HAM/TSP-like illness. Autoimmune mechanisms, such as autoantibody formation, may play a role in pathogenesis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/15. HTLV-II transmission to a health care worker.health care workers, mainly in emergency and forensic services, are at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I and type II (HTLV-I and HTLV-II) are cosmopolitan human delta retroviruses causing endemic infection in japan, the Caribbean basin, south america, and sub-Saharan africa, and in clusters among intravenous drug users in europe and the united states. The seroprevalence of HTLV-I and HTLV-II among Brazilian blood donors ranges from 0.08% to 1.35%. HTLV-I transmission to a Japanese researcher has already been reported. We describe the transmission of HTLV-II infection to a Brazilian laboratory worker caused by a needlestick injury when she was recapping a syringe after collecting material for arterial blood gas analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an occupational transmission of HTLV-II to a health care worker.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/15. syndrome of severe skin disease, eosinophilia, and dermatopathic lymphadenopathy in patients with HTLV-II complicating human immunodeficiency virus infection.Two intravenous drug users dually infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1) and human T-cell leukemia virus type II (HTLV-II) developed an unusual severe dermatitis characterized by progressive brawny induration, fissuring, and ulceration of the skin, with an associated CD8 cell infiltration in one patient. Both patients had persistent eosinophilia. Lymph node biopsy revealed dermatopathic lymphadenopathy, an unusual pathologic finding in hiv-1 infection but one seen in association with mycosis fungoides and other skin disorders. Two new isolates of HTLV-II virus were established from these patients and were identified as HTLV-II by Southern blotting. This type of skin disease and lymph node pathology has not been found in other intravenous drug users who have been infected with hiv-1 alone or in patients in other risk groups for hiv-1 infection. HTLV-II may play a role in this unique new disease pattern in patients infected with hiv-1.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/15. Transmission of HTLV-II via blood transfusion.Transmission of HTLV-I by transfusion is well documented in japan, where HTLV-I is endemic. In non endemic regions such as the united states, HTLV-I/II infection has been transmitted by transfusion as well, but no effort to distinguish HTLV-I from HTLV-II infection was made in these studies. There is a growing body of evidence that a substantial proportion of HTLV-I/II seropositivity in the US is due to infection with HTLV-II. We report 2 cases of apparent transfusion-transmitted HTLV-II infection and discuss the importance of distinguishing between the two viruses in blood donors and recipients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/15. Progressive nemaline rod myopathy in a woman coinfected with hiv-1 and HTLV-2.Nemaline-rod myopathy was recently reported in eight young males infected with human immune deficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1). A 41-year-old woman had a 2-year history of progressive proximal-muscle weakness. Muscle biopsy demonstrated the presence of nemaline rods, predominantly in type 1 fibers. She was coinfected with hiv-1 and HTLV-2, as evidenced by positive polymerase chain reaction and serology. There was no lymphopenia or CD4 lymphopenia, despite an abnormal T-cell subset ratio, high CD8 count, skin anergy, and depressed in vitro response to mitogens. This case raises the possibility that dual infection may play a role in the pathogenesis of the rare nemaline-rod myopathies of HIV-infected patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/15. Spastic ataxia associated with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type II infection.Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type one (HTLV-1) is associated with tropical spastic paraparesis or HTLV-I--associated myelopathy. We report 2 women with a spastic ataxic illness similar to HTLV-I--associated myelopathy infected solely with HTLV-II. Identification of HTLV-II infection was made serologically, by polymerase chain reaction, and by viral culture (in 1 woman). One woman, treated with 200 mg of danazol orally, three times daily, had pronounced improvement in ambulation, nocturnal spasticity, and nighttime urinary frequency. It appears that infection with HTLV-II may cause an illness similar to HTLV-I--associated myelopathy, but distinguished by the presence of ataxia.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = infection (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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