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Sero‐epidemiologic and phylogenetic studies of HTLV‐I infection in 2 countries of the Caspian Sea region
Author(s) -
Senyuta Natalia,
Syrtsev Alexander,
Yamashita Masahiro,
Stepina Vera,
Susova Olga,
Scherbak Liana,
Pavlish Oleg,
Hayami Masanori,
Gurtsevitch Vladimir
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19980812)77:4<488::aid-ijc2>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - phylogenetic tree , population , biology , cluster (spacecraft) , transmission (telecommunications) , phylogenetic relationship , phylogenetics , virology , demography , geography , genetics , gene , sociology , computer science , electrical engineering , programming language , engineering
Phylogenetic analysis of HTLV‐I variants persisting among population of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Georgia (situated on both sides of the Caspian sea, not far from a known HTLV‐I cluster in Northern Iran) has been carried out. HTLV‐I isolates from the above countries were obtained in the course of seroepidemiological investigations. In all, 1,510 blood‐donor samples from Turkmenistan and 47 blood samples from hematological patients from Georgia, were tested with different screening and confirmatory assays, including commercial ones. As a result, 7 infected individuals (3 blood donors and 4 relatives of one blood donor) from Turkmenistan and 3 infected individuals (one ATL patient and 2 of his relatives) from Georgia were found. In addition, 4 HTLV‐I isolates from Turkmenistan and one from Georgia were cloned and part of their LTR was sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of sequenced isolates allowed us to conclude that these isolates belonged to sub‐type A, one of 3 sub‐types of the “Cosmopolitan” type. We found that most of the Turkmenian isolates formed a tight cluster and shared common nucleotide substitutions with isolates originating from Northern Iran (Mashhad). The data obtained suggest that there is a new endemic focus of HTLV‐I infection in the Caspian sea region. Further investigations are required to confirm this hypothesis. Int. J. Cancer 77:488–493, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.