PROVIRUS LOAD IN PATIENTS WITH HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA-VIRUS TYPE-1 UVEITIS CORRELATES WITH PRECEDENT GRAVES-DISEASE AND DISEASE ACTIVITIES

We previously demonstrated the increased provirus load in the peripher al blood of patients with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) uveitis (HU), To delineate the relevance of the increased provirus loa d to clinical and immunologic parameters, we studied the correlation b etween them, Seventy-nine HU patients (24 male and 55 female) were inc luded in the study, with their informed consent, Plasma samples and ge nomic DNA of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and the provirus load was estimated by semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction of the gag region sequence. Serum levels of anti-HTLT-1 antib odies and soluble IL-2R were determined by electrochemiluminescence im mune assay and by ELISA, respectively. Disease activities were assesse d and graded 0 to 3 according to the evaluation system, Recurrence of the disease during the follow-up period was diagnosed ophthalmological ly. The provirus load was significantly higher in the HU patients afte r Graves' disease (GD) than in those without GD (P<0.05). It correlate d with disease activities assessed in terms of vitreous inflammation a nd interval to recurrence (both P<0,05), In the HU patients without GD , it correlated with the serum levels of soluble IL-2 receptor (P<0,01 ), and nearly with those of HTLV-1 antibody (P=0.063). These correlati ons were not found in the HU patients after GD under methimazole treat ment. The results suggested a direct involvement of HTLV-1-infected ce lls in the pathogenesis of uveitis, and raise the possibility that hyp erthyroidism may contribute to the clonal expansion of HTLV-1-infected cells.