Abstract / Description of output
Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is the etiologic agent of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). High HTLV-I provirus load and tax mRNA level have been suggested as predictors of disease progression in patients with HAM/TSP, but little is known about the temporal variation in patients. To clarify the role of high proviral and tax mRNA loads and their fluctuations in the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP, we measured proviral load and tax mRNA in serially collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from nine patients with HAM/TSP during a long-term follow-up, by use of real-time polymerase chain reaction using tax primers. The real-time PCR quantitation revealed a wide range of variation of proviral loads (7.82-97.13 copies per 100 PBMCs) and tax mRNA (0.20-245.30 copies) among HAM/TSP patients. Patients showed three different patterns of HTLV-I tax mRNA loads during the course of the disease. Tax mRNA load showed a separate evolution with respect to the disease. The dynamic patterns of proviral load and mRNA Tax expression suggest that only the permanent presence of a basal level of tax mRNA, rather than the tax mRNA load, is related to the development of HAM/TSP. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study to determine tax mRNA expression at different clinical stages.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 782-90 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Medical Virology |
Volume | 79 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2007 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Adult
- DNA, Viral
- Female
- Gene Products, tax
- Human T-lymphotropic virus 1
- Humans
- Leukocytes, Mononuclear
- Longitudinal Studies
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic
- Proviruses
- RNA, Messenger
- RNA, Viral
- Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- Time Factors
- Viral Load