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Association of HTLV‐I with autoimmune thyroiditis in patients with adult T‐cell leukaemia (ATL) and in HTLV‐I carriers
Author(s) -
Akamine Hiromitsu,
Takasu Nobuyuki,
Komiya Ichiro,
Ishikawa Kazuo,
Shinjyo Tetsuharu,
Nakachi Ken,
Masuda Masato
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2265.1996.741562.x
Subject(s) - medicine , autoantibody , thyroiditis , anti thyroid autoantibodies , thyroid , thyroglobulin , thyroid peroxidase , autoimmune thyroiditis , immunology , serology , antibody , endocrinology
OBJECTIVE Human T‐lymphotrophic virus type I (HTLV‐I) is a retrovirus that causes adult T‐cell leukaemia (ATL). This virus is associated with a variety of autoimmune disorders. The possible association between HTLV‐I infection and autoimmune thyroiditis has not been fully studied. We therefore evaluated anti‐thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) and anti‐thyroglobulin antibodies (TGAb) in the sera of patients with ATL, carriers of HTLV‐I, and in healthy control subjects to investigate the possible association between such infection and autoimmune thyroiditis.PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty‐two ATL patients (21 males, 31 females; mean age 56.4 years) and 50 HTLV‐I carriers (18 males, 32 females; mean age 56.7 years) were studied. The control subjects were 877 healthy adults (271 males, 606 females; mean age 54.8 years) who were negative for HTLV‐I antibody. TPOAb, TGAb, thyroxine (T4) and thyrotrophin (TSH) were measured in serum using a radioimmunoassay kit.RESULTS Positivity for thyroid autoantibodies (TPOAb and/or TGAb) was found in 21 of 52 ATL patients (40.4%), 15 of 50 HTLV‐I carriers (30.0%), and 120 of 877 control subjects (13.7%). The difference between the HTLV‐I‐infected and the control subjects was statistically significant ( P < 0.005). Female control subjects had a significantly higher prevalence of positivity for thyroid autoantibodies than the males (17.3 vs 5.5%, P < 0.001). Carriers of HTLV‐I and patients with ATL of each sex showed an equally high prevalence of positivity for thyroid autoantibodies. Of the subjects who were positive for thyroid autoantibody, 7.5% of control subjects, 19.0% of ATL patients, and 40.0% of HTLV‐I carriers had hypothyroidism. A significant difference in this respect was noted between the HTLV‐I infected subjects and the control subjects ( P < 0.005).CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates a high prevalence of positivity for thyroid autoantibodies (TPOAb and/or TGAb) in the adult T‐cell leukaemia patients and the HTLV‐I carriers. The adult T‐cell leukaemia patients and the HTLV‐I carriers each had a high prevalence of hypothyroidism. There was an association between HTLV‐I infection and autoimmune thyroiditis.