An epidemiologic study of anti-ATLA (antibody to adult T-cell leukemia-associated antigen) in Nichinan district of southern Kyushu by enzyme immunoassay

Abstract

Kyushu is known as area in which adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is endemic.In order to determine the distribution of antibody to ATL-associated antigen (anti-ATLA) in the Nichinan district of southern Kyushu, determination of anti-ATLA status of inpatients in a general hospital in Nichinan City, Miyazaki prefecture was carried out from August to December, 1983. Sera from 914 inpatients were tested for presence of anti-ATLA by Enzymeimmunoassay (EIA) prepared by Eisai Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.Results obtained are as follows1) Overall prevalence of anti-ATLA was 18.9 per cent (173 of 914 individuals).Prevalence of anti-ATLA increased with age, reaching a maximum of 37.1 per cent for people 70 years old or over.2) Prevalence of anti-ATLA was 18.1 per cent (73 of 403) in males and 19.6 per cent (100 fof 511) in females.Significant difference by sex was not recognized.3) Anti-ATLA was most prevalent in patients with neoplasms (36.7%).Patients with following pathological conditions were included in this category (anti-ATLA prevalencies are given in parenthesis): malignant lymphoma (100%), leukemia (0%), stomach cancer (41.7%), and miscellaneous cancer (26.8%).After neoplasms, anti-ATLA was most prevalent in patients with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (33.3%) and diseases of the circulatory system (27.9%).4) Mean optical density (OD) values by EIA were 1.034±1.035 for the 173 anti-ATLA-positive individuals and 0.038±0.023 for the 741 negative individuals;The difference between the values for the positive and negative sera was large.Furthermore, the mean OD value was significantly higher for anti-ATLA-positive males (1.142±0.888) than for anti-ATLA-positive females (0.955±1.180) (p<0.001).