The prevalence of human T‐cell leukemia virus type I infection in patients with hematologic and nonhematologic diseases in an adult T‐cell leukemia‐endemic area of Japan

• Published in: Cancer 1989-09, Vol.64 (6), p.1290-1295
• Main Authors: Hanada, Shuichi, Uematsu, Toshiaki, Iwahashi, Masahito, Nomura, Koichiro, Utsunomiya, Atae, Kodama, Masahiko, Ishibashi, Kazuaki, Terada, Ariyoshi, Saito, Takeshi, Makino, Torahiko, Uozumi, Kimiharu, Kuwazuru, Yasuo, Otsuka, Maki, Harada, Ryuji, Hashimoto, Shuji, Sakurami, Takehiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Donors; Blood Transfusion; Female; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; Hematologic Diseases - complications; HTLV-I Infections - complications; HTLV-I Infections - epidemiology; Humans; Japan; Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell - epidemiology; Leukemias. Malignant lymphomas. Malignant reticulosis. Myelofibrosis; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Renal Dialysis; Serologic Tests
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19890915)64:6<1290::AID-CNCR2820640620>3.0.CO;2-Z

In order to clarify the prevalence of human T‐cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV‐I) infection in the Kagoshima district, Japan, a highly endemic area for HTLV‐I, antibodies for HTLV‐I (anti‐HTLV‐I) were examined in the sera of 6167 from healthy residents and patients with various hematologic and nonhematologic diseases. In healthy residents, including blood donors, the prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I was 11.9% (562/4741 persons). The prevalence increased with age, and was significantly higher in females than in males (P < 0.01). The prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I in blood donors was 8.5%. In hematologic diseases, the prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I was 98.3% in ATL, 28.9% in lymphoproliferative disorders except ATL, and 10.6% in myeloproliferative disorders. In nonhematologic diseases, the prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I was shown to be 29.5% in pulmonary tuberculosis, 25.8% in leprosy, 33.8% in chronic renal failure (CRF), 21.9% in autoimmune diseases, and 47.8% in strongyloidiasis. The various diseases except myeloproliferative disorders had significantly higher prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I than healthy residents (P < 0.01 or 0.05). For autoimmune diseases, the prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I in patients with blood transfusion (55.6%) was higher than in those without blood transfusion (8.7%), and healthy residents. In hemodialysis patients with CRF who had received blood transfusions the prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I increased with the number of blood transfusions. Therefore, HTLV‐I transmission via blood transfusion would partially explain these high prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I. However, the prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I in hemodialysis patients with CRF was statistically higher than that in healthy residents, regardless of blood transfusion (P < 0.01). Furthermore, hemodialysis patients showed significantly higher prevalence of anti‐HTLV‐I than healthy residents, even at a younger age. Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and leprosy showed the same results as hemodialysis patients. These results suggest the possibility that HTLV‐I infection has some relation not only to ATL but also to other diseases. Therefore, it seems very important to halt the spread of HTLV‐I transmission as soon as possible.