HTLV-I-ASSOCIATED MYELOPATHY ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIORGAN INFLAMMATORY DISEASE - A CASE-REPORT

We report a 73-year-old man with human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HT LV-1)-associated myelopathy (HAM) complicated with multi-organ inflamm atory disease, including Sjogren's syndrome, interstitial cystitis, an d uveitis. The presence of HTLV-I proviral DNA in peripheral blood mon onuclear cells (PBMC), cerebrospinal fluid, salivary gland, mucosa of urinary bladder, and aqueous humor was confirmed by polymerase chain r eaction using HTLV-1 pX region primer. Western blot analysis revealed the presence of anti-HTLV-1 antibodies in serum, CSF, saliva, and urin e, suggesting replication of HTLV-I in each tissue. A high load of HTL V-I proviral DNA (20 copies out of 100 PBMC) was present, associated w ith increased spontaneous proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocyte s (24 747 cpm). Our results suggest that the high load of HTLV-1 in pa tients with HAM may potentially induce systemic inflammation in severa l organs. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.