OLIGOCLONAL PROLIFERATION OF HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA-VIRUS TYPE-I INFECTED LYMPHOCYTES IN LESIONS OF VIRUS-INDUCED ARTHROPATHY

To investigate the pathogenesis of human T-cell leukemia virus type I associated arthropathy, the mode of proviral integration in the pathol ogical lesions was analyzed using ligation-mediated polymerase chain r eaction. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of these patients p ossessed multiple dominant clones of the virus-infected cells. On the other hand, synovial fluid cells of the affected joints exhibited fewe r dominant clones even though the copy numbers of the provirus were co mparable to those of PBMC. Thus, restricted HTLV-I infected T cell clo nes may proliferate and expand in the lesions. (C) 1995 Academic Press , Inc.