献血者に見出されたＨＴＬＶ‐Ｉ抗体陽転例の解析： キャリア夫婦における感染の広がり

Abstract

We investigated human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) transmission in married couples among a blood donor population. Retrospective or prospective studies were subjected to 172 couples either or both of whom was a HTLV-I carrier. Fifty-three seropositive donors (26 males and 27 females) were all positive on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using primer pairs in the proviral genome pX region. None of 42 seronegative spouses (25 males and 17 females) among sero-discordant pairs was PCR-positive. Of 6 seroconverted cases, including 4 cases detected retrospectively, five were female donors with HTLV-I-seropositive husbands and showed the conversion of HTLV-I serostatus from gelatin-particle agglutination (PA) negative to PA/immunofluorescence (IF) double positive. The remaining one was a male donor with HTLV-I positive wife and converted from weakly PA positive/IF negative to PA/IF double positive. Western blot analyses demonstrated that 4 of the female seroconverters had anti-HTLV-I antibody in the IgM class as well as IgG. The other female donor had only IgM class anti-HTLV-I, which is a marker of recent primary infection. Our present results indicate that the transmission of HTLV-I is not rare among sexual partners who are voluntary blood donors. A pertinent notification system for the virus carriers may be mandatory in order to avoid the spread of HTLV-I infection.