Human T-cell lymphotropic virus types I and II (HTLV-I and II) infection among seroindeterminate cases in Argentina

BERINI C; EIRIN ME; PANDO MA; BIGLIONE MM

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Año: 2007 vol. 79 p. 69 - 73

0146-6615

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) seroindeterminate cases have been reported among blood donors and in at-risk populations worldwide, including Argentina. The objective of the present work was to study the presence of HTLV-I/II infection and its association to specific western blot (WB) patterns among healthy blood donors and at-risk populations in Argentina. We analyzed 83 HTLV-I/II seroindeterminate WB cases diagnosed among blood donors (n=49) (BD) and in different at-risk populations (n=34) for human retroviruses infections. Multiple indeterminate WB patterns were observed. Out of the total, 13.2% (11/83) resulted HTLV-I/II positive by nested-PCR (n-PCR), including 13.2% (11/83) HTLV-I and 2.4% (2/83) presenting HTLV-I and II co-infection. Most of their serological profile showed reactivity to gag or env codified proteins. Two samples amplified only one of the six analyzed genes (1 HTLV-I pol gene and 1 HTLV-II tax gene). There was no association between the presence of T. cruzi infection and an HTLV-I/II indeterminate WB pattern (only 3 of the 83 samples were positive for T. cruzi antibodies). In conclusion, the majority of HTLV-seroindeterminate WB donors lacked HTLV provirus, and were thus considered uninfected. However, when seroreactivity to Env and Gag proteins are observed on the WB and especially in at-risk populations, HTLV infection should be suspected; such individuals should be followed-up and retested.