Document 0516
 DOCN  M9590516
 TI    [Epstein-Barr virus-specific immunity in asymptomatic carriers of human
       T-cell leukemia virus type 1]
 DT    9509
 AU    Kwon KW; Department of Research, Hokkaido Red Cross Blood Center,
       Sapporo,; Japan.
 SO    Hokkaido Igaku Zasshi. 1995 Mar;70(2):315-28. Unique Identifier :
       AIDSLINE MED/95293318
 AB    Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) patients are immunosuppressed as evidenced
       by anergy to recall antigens and the occurrence of opportunistic
       infections. The immunosuppression appears to be a critical factor or a
       predictive sign for the development of ATL in carriers of human T-cell
       leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1). This study was aimed at assessing the
       immune status of asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers with the immunity specific
       to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a ubiquitous human herpesvirus with
       oncogenic potential. Forty-three asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers were
       examined for their EBV serology and EBV-specific cytotoxic T-cell
       (EBV-CTL) activity, in comparison with 10 HTLV-I-non-infected normal
       controls. Both carriers and controls were all positive for EBV capsid
       antigen (VCA) IgG. Significantly elevated titer of VCAIgG and lower
       titer of EBV-determined nuclear antigen (EBNA) antibodies were observed
       in asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers, suggesting reactivation of EBV. Among
       the HTLV-I carriers, 9 (20.9%) had reduced activity of EBV-CTL as
       revealed by lower incidence of regression of in vitro EBV-induced B-cell
       transformation. Accordingly, asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers were divided
       into three groups: the carriers with reduced EBV-specific cellular
       immunity (group I), the carriers showing normal cellular immunity but
       aberrant EBV-specific antibody titers (group II), and the carriers with
       normal EBV-specific cellular immunity and serology (group III). Higher
       positive rate of anti-HTLV-I Tax antibody was found in the former two
       groups (44.4% and 56.5%, respectively) compared with group III (18.2%).
       An immunosuppressive agent, 4-deoxyphorbol ester induced a remarkable
       decrease of EBV-CTL activity in the carriers of group II and III at the
       concentration that affected none of the normal controls. These findings
       indicate that asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers suffer stepwise impairment of
       EBV-specific immunities, which may be caused by HTLV-I infection.
 DE    Adolescence  Adult  Antibody Specificity  Antigens, Viral/ANALYSIS
       Carrier State/*IMMUNOLOGY  DNA-Binding Proteins/ANALYSIS  English
       Abstract  Herpesvirus 4, Human/*IMMUNOLOGY  Human  HTLV-I
       Infections/*IMMUNOLOGY  IgG/ANALYSIS  *Immune Tolerance  Immunity,
       Cellular  Leukemia, T-Cell/IMMUNOLOGY  Middle Age  JOURNAL ARTICLE

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