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Is it necessary to test patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) for seropositivity to HTLV‐1?
Author(s) -
Calleja Elizabeth,
Klein Renate,
Bussel James
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1096-8652
pISSN - 0361-8609
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8652(199906)61:2<94::aid-ajh3>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - thrombocytopenic purpura , medicine , immunology , antibody , immune system , retrovirus , lymphoma , leukemia , virus , virology
HTLV‐111 (HIV‐1) has been shown to be associated with thrombocytopenia of a type resembling immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). HTLV‐1 is a retrovirus similar to HIV‐l (HTLV‐III) in a number of features, such as CD4 tropism. It is responsible for several clinical entities, including adult T‐cell leukemia/lymphoma. The relationship, if any, of HTLV‐1 and thrombocytopenia has not been systematically studied. To determine how frequently ITP patients are commonly infected with HTLV‐1, the following study was performed. Frozen serum samples from 123 randomly selected patients with ITP were thawed and tested for antibodies to HTLV‐1 by enzyme‐linked immunoabsorbent assay. Positives were confirmed by Western blot. Three patients were initially found to be positive for HTLV‐1. One was a female of Caribbean ancestry, one was a male HIV‐1+ patient, and one was an adolescent female with no known risk factors for HIV‐1. The two females later tested negative for HTLV‐1. As a screening program for HTLV‐1 antibodies was not introduced into blood banks until November 1988, there may have been passive transfer of the virus from intravenous immunoglobulin that these patients had received. This study of a large number of ITP patients shows that it is extremely unlikely that they are infected with HTLV‐1, and, therefore, it is unnecessary to screen ITP patients for seropositivity to HTLV‐1. Am. J. Hematol. 61:94–97, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.