Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A small fraction of Human T cell Leukemia Virus type-1 (HTLV-I) infected subjects develop a severe form of myelopathy. It has been established that patients with HTLV-I associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) sho...
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doaj-f4865604ad50445192c7718897fb69a02020-11-25T03:07:17ZengBMCBMC Infectious Diseases1471-23342004-03-0141710.1186/1471-2334-4-7Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriersGollob Kenneth JDutra Walderez OMelo AiltonMagalhães Elzade Jesus AméliaMuniz AndréPorto AuréliaSantos SilvaneCarvalho Edgar M<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A small fraction of Human T cell Leukemia Virus type-1 (HTLV-I) infected subjects develop a severe form of myelopathy. It has been established that patients with HTLV-I associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) show an exaggerated immune response when compared with the immunological response observed in HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers. In this study the immunological responses in HAM/TSP patients and in HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers were compared using several immunological assays to identify immunological markers associated with progression from infection to disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Immunoproliferation assays, cytokine levels of unstimulated cultures, and flow cytometry analysis were used to evaluate the studied groups. Nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks) were used to compare the difference between the groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although both groups showed great variability, HAM/TSP patients had higher spontaneous lymphoproliferation as well as higher IFN-γ levels in unstimulated supernatants when compared with asymptomatic carriers. Flow cytometry studies demonstrated a high frequency of inflammatory cytokine (IFN-γ and TNF-α) producing lymphocytes in HAM/TSP as compared to the asymptomatic group. This difference was accounted for mainly by an increase in CD8 cell production of these cytokines. Moreover, the HAM/TSP patients also expressed an increased frequency of CD28-/CD8+ T cells. Since forty percent of the asymptomatic carriers had spontaneous lymphoproliferation and IFN-γ production similar to HAM/TSP patients, IFN-γ levels were measured eight months after the first evaluation in some of these patients to observe if this was a transient or a persistent situation. No significant difference was observed between the means of IFN-γ levels in the first and second evaluation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The finding that a large proportion of HTLV-I carriers present similar immunological responses to those observed in HAM/TSP, strongly argues for further studies to evaluate these parameters as markers of HAM/TSP progression.</p> http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/4/7HTLV-IHAM/TSPHTLV-I carriersImmunological response in HTLV-I infectionMarkers of HAM/TSP progression. |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Gollob Kenneth J Dutra Walderez O Melo Ailton Magalhães Elza de Jesus Amélia Muniz André Porto Aurélia Santos Silvane Carvalho Edgar M |
spellingShingle |
Gollob Kenneth J Dutra Walderez O Melo Ailton Magalhães Elza de Jesus Amélia Muniz André Porto Aurélia Santos Silvane Carvalho Edgar M Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers BMC Infectious Diseases HTLV-I HAM/TSP HTLV-I carriers Immunological response in HTLV-I infection Markers of HAM/TSP progression. |
author_facet |
Gollob Kenneth J Dutra Walderez O Melo Ailton Magalhães Elza de Jesus Amélia Muniz André Porto Aurélia Santos Silvane Carvalho Edgar M |
author_sort |
Gollob Kenneth J |
title |
Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers |
title_short |
Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers |
title_full |
Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers |
title_fullStr |
Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of HAM/TSP is observed in a large proportion of HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers |
title_sort |
exacerbated inflammatory cellular immune response characteristics of ham/tsp is observed in a large proportion of htlv-i asymptomatic carriers |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Infectious Diseases |
issn |
1471-2334 |
publishDate |
2004-03-01 |
description |
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A small fraction of Human T cell Leukemia Virus type-1 (HTLV-I) infected subjects develop a severe form of myelopathy. It has been established that patients with HTLV-I associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) show an exaggerated immune response when compared with the immunological response observed in HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers. In this study the immunological responses in HAM/TSP patients and in HTLV-I asymptomatic carriers were compared using several immunological assays to identify immunological markers associated with progression from infection to disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Immunoproliferation assays, cytokine levels of unstimulated cultures, and flow cytometry analysis were used to evaluate the studied groups. Nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks) were used to compare the difference between the groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although both groups showed great variability, HAM/TSP patients had higher spontaneous lymphoproliferation as well as higher IFN-γ levels in unstimulated supernatants when compared with asymptomatic carriers. Flow cytometry studies demonstrated a high frequency of inflammatory cytokine (IFN-γ and TNF-α) producing lymphocytes in HAM/TSP as compared to the asymptomatic group. This difference was accounted for mainly by an increase in CD8 cell production of these cytokines. Moreover, the HAM/TSP patients also expressed an increased frequency of CD28-/CD8+ T cells. Since forty percent of the asymptomatic carriers had spontaneous lymphoproliferation and IFN-γ production similar to HAM/TSP patients, IFN-γ levels were measured eight months after the first evaluation in some of these patients to observe if this was a transient or a persistent situation. No significant difference was observed between the means of IFN-γ levels in the first and second evaluation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The finding that a large proportion of HTLV-I carriers present similar immunological responses to those observed in HAM/TSP, strongly argues for further studies to evaluate these parameters as markers of HAM/TSP progression.</p> |
topic |
HTLV-I HAM/TSP HTLV-I carriers Immunological response in HTLV-I infection Markers of HAM/TSP progression. |
url |
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/4/7 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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