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Isolation of an HTLV-1-like retrovirus from patients with tropical spastic paraparesis

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Abstract

Tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) is a slowly progressive myelopathy associated with increased serum and cerebrospinal fluid antibodies to the human T-lymphotropic retrovirus type I (HTLV-I) (ref. 1), and has been observed in many regions of the world2–4. A similar condition known as HTLV-I-associated myelopathy5 occurs in the Kagoshima prefecture of Japan. Recent6,7 but controversial8–10 reports suggest involvement of virus related to HTLV-I in multiple sclerosis. Magnetic resonance imag-ing and electrophysiological studies indicate that TSP lesions are like multiple sclerosis11 in that they are disseminated throughout the nervous system. Complete virus from patients with TSP has proved difficult to isolate12,13 using techniques successful in adult T-cell leukaemia cases associated with HTLV-I. Here we report the isolation of an HTLV-I-like virus from T-cell lines derived from the peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid of TSP patients. The monoclonal antibody OKT3 was used to generate non-trans-formed T-cell lines that express HTLV-I antigens. Infectious virus was demonstrated by co-cultivation and complete, replicating virions were visualized ultrastructurally.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroimmunology Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Steven Jacobson, Elizabeth S. Mingioli & Dale E. McFarlin

  2. Neuropathology Division, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, The Bronx, New York, 10461, USA

    Cedric S. Raine

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  1. Steven Jacobson
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  2. Cedric S. Raine
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  3. Elizabeth S. Mingioli
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  4. Dale E. McFarlin
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Jacobson, S., Raine, C., Mingioli, E. et al. Isolation of an HTLV-1-like retrovirus from patients with tropical spastic paraparesis. Nature 331, 540–543 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/331540a0

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