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Molecular detection of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in pregnant women from Maranhão state, Brazil

  • Clinical Microbiology - Research Paper
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Abstract

The human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) has a worldwide distribution. HTLV is endemic in some states in the northeastern region of Brazil. This study investigated the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in 713 pregnant women attended at the Central Laboratory of Public Health of Maranhão (LACEN-MA) between February 2015 and May 2017. Serological screening was performed by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA), and reactive sera were subsequently confirmed by Western blot (WB) analysis. Five samples were determined to be HTLV-1/2-reactive by CMIA analysis, while in the WB analysis, three sera were positive for HTLV-1, and two were indeterminate. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis used to detect HTLV-1 proviral DNA showed a specific 336 base pair fragment for HTLV-1 in all CMIA-reactive serum samples. PCR products were purified and sequenced. We observed a 0.7% molecular prevalence of HTLV-1 infection. The average age of the HTLV-1-positive pregnant women was 25.6 ± 8.2 years, and the average age of the HTLV-1-negative pregnant women was 24.3 ± 6.2 (p = 0.60). We observed that there was no association of HTLV-1 infection with age, ethnicity, marital status, educational level, family income, age of first sexual intercourse, previous pregnancy, breastfeeding, intravenous drug use by partner, history of blood transfusions, or use of condoms. The prevalence of HTLV-1 observed in pregnant women demonstrated the need to implement public health policies for the screening of HTLV-1/2 in prenatal care and counseling to avoid breastfeeding by infected women; this approach could control vertical transmission and reduce the spread of this virus in the population.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the staff of the LACEN-MA for collecting the blood samples and performing the serological tests for HTLV, and the authors are also grateful to the pregnant women who agreed to participate in this study, making this research possible.

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão (FAPEMA, under grant number 03382/13).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biodiversity and Biotechnology Network of the Legal Amazon, Federal University of Maranhão, Maranhão, Brazil

    Maria de Fátima Castro Mendes & Maria Rosa Quaresma Bomfim

  2. Clinical Chemistry Service, University Hospital, Federal University of Maranhão, Maranhão, Brazil

    Maria de Fátima Castro Mendes & José de Ribamar Oliveira Lima

  3. Molecular Biology Laboratory of Pathogenic Microorganisms, CEUMA University, Maranhão, Brazil

    Bruna de Oliveira de Melo, Hermerson Sousa Maia, Thiago Azevedo Feitosa Ferro, Silvio Gomes Monteiro & Maria Rosa Quaresma Bomfim

  4. Central Laboratory of Public Health of Maranhão, Maranhão, Brazil

    Conceição de Maria Fernandes da Silva Pinto

  5. Biological Science Institute, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Edel Figueiredo Barbosa Stancioli

  6. Programa de Mestrado em Biologia Microbiana da Universidade CEUMA/Programa de Doutorado em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia da Amazônia Legal (BIONORTE), Rua Josué Montello, 1, São Luis, Maranhão, 65075120, Brazil

    Maria Rosa Quaresma Bomfim

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  1. Maria de Fátima Castro Mendes
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  2. José de Ribamar Oliveira Lima
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  3. Bruna de Oliveira de Melo
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Contributions

Maria de Fátima Castro Mendes, Bruna de Oliveira de Melo, and Hermerson Sousa Maia extracted the proviral DNA from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and performed molecular biology assays. Silvio Gomes Monteiro and Thiago Azevedo Feitosa Ferro performed the statistical analyses of the results. Conceição de Maria Fernandes da Silva Pinto selected the records of the patients of HTLV in the LACEN-MA database. José de Ribamar Oliveira Lima performed the serological tests chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) and Western blotting (WB) analysis. Maria Rosa Quaresma Bomfim and Edel Figueiredo Barbosa Stancioli designed and conducted the study, analyzed the data, and composed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maria Rosa Quaresma Bomfim.

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de Fátima Castro Mendes, M., de Ribamar Oliveira Lima, J., de Oliveira de Melo, B. et al. Molecular detection of human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in pregnant women from Maranhão state, Brazil. Braz J Microbiol 51, 637–645 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-020-00233-0

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