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Immunoglobulin Classes of Antibody for Human T‐Lymphotropic Virus Type‐I (HTLV‐I) in Healthy Donors and HTLV‐I‐Associated Disorders
Author(s) -
Kamihira Simeru,
Sohda Hisasi,
Oyakawa Nobuyuki,
Moriuti Yukiyosi,
Momita Saburo,
Ikeda Shuiti,
Yamada Yasuaki,
Ichimaru Michito,
Kinosita Kenichirou,
Okuda Hiroto,
Kanamura Machiko,
Oota Takiko
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.1423-0410.1989.tb02021.x
Subject(s) - titer , antibody , immunology , virology , medicine , immunoglobulin m , serology , antibody titer , antigen , human t lymphotropic virus , immunoglobulin g , agglutination (biology) , virus , myelopathy , psychiatry , spinal cord
. Healthy blood donors, patients with adult T‐cell leukemia (ATL) and HTLV‐I‐associated myelopathy (HAM) and recipients of unscreened blood (SR) who had seroconverted and were followed‐up for more than 2 years were examined for HTLV‐1 antibodies of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and M(IgM) classes. The overall infection rate in donors was 4.9%, as determined by screening with a particle agglutination method (PA). The rate increased with increasing age. Positive sera with a low titer in the PA test (1/16, 1/32 and 1/64) contained IgM antibodies in 32.5% (titer 1/16) to 36.1% (titer 1/64) of the cases, but IgG antibodies were detected in only 5.6% of the sera with a titer of 1/16 and in 36.1% of the sera with a titer of 1/64. Conversely, in high titer sera (1/128 or higher) IgG antibodies were almost always detectable (99.0%) and IgM antibodies less frequently (25.5%). Sera from acute, chronic and pre‐ATL, HAM and SR patients contained IgG antibodies in high titer in all cases. The incidence of IgM antibodies was 7.7, 30.0, 53.3, 72.3, and 77.8%, respectively. IgM antibodies were demonstrated repeatedly in some cases who were followed up for a year. Only IgM antibodies from HAM patients occurred in high titers and had strong reactivity to the p24 antigens of HTLV‐I in Western blot testing. It is concluded that it is important to detect IgM antibodies not only in primary infections but also in persistent infections of HTLV‐I.