No abstract

Introduction:In Brazil, studies have shown that HTLV seroprevalence among pregnant women varies from 0 to 1.8%. However, this seroprevalence was unknown in the State of Pará, Brazil. The present study describes, for the first time, the HTLV seroprevalence among pregnant women from the State of Pará, Northern Brazil. Methods: 13,382 pregnant women were submitted to HTLV screening during prenatal care, and those with non-seronegative results to anti-HTLV were submitted to Western blot (WB) test to confirm and separate HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 carriers. Results: HTLV seroprevalence in the population of pregnant women was 0.3%, and HTLV-1 was identified in 95.3% of patients. The demographic profile of HTLV carriers was as follows: women with age between 20 and 40 years old (78.4%); residing in the metropolitan region of Belém, Pará (67.6%); and with educational level of high school (56.8%). Other variables related to infection were as follows: beginning of sexual intercourse between the age of 12 and 18 years old (64.9%) and have being breastfed for more than 6 months (51.4%). Most of the women studied had at least two previous pregnancies (35.1%) and no abortion (70.3%). Coinfections (syphilis and HIV) were found in 10.8% (4/37) of these pregnant women. Conclusions: Seroprevalence of HTLV infection in pregnant women assisted in basic health units from the State of Pará, Northern Brazil, was 0.3% similar to those described in other Brazilian studies. The variables related to infection were important indicators in identifying pregnant women with a higher tendency to HTLV seropositivity, being a strategy for disease control and prevention, avoiding vertical transmission.

Este trabalho objetivou a caracterização molecular do vírus linfotrópico de células T humanas infectando doadores de sangue atendidos na Fundação Centro de Hemoterapia e Hematologia do Pará. Amostras de DNA de 79 indivíduos soropositivos para o vírus linfotrópico de células T humanas foram analisadas por meio da reação em cadeia da polimerase para as regiões genômicas pX, env e 5'LTR, de polimorfismos de comprimento de fragmentos de restrição e do seqüenciamento da região 5LTR, com posterior análise filogenética, definindo o tipo e o subtipo do HTLV circulante na população estudada. Observou-se uma maior prevalência de HTLV-1 (71%) em relação ao HTLV-2 (29%). As amostras de HTLV-1 sequenciadas foram classificadas como pertencentes ao subtipo Cosmopolita, subgrupo Transcontinental, sendo as de HTLV-2 identificadas como HTLV-2c. A análise de polimorfismos de comprimento de fragmentos de restrição da região env e do sequenciamento da região 5'LTR, identificou, pela primeira vez na Amazônia Brasileira, uma amostra de HTLV-2b, enfatizando a necessidade de estudos moleculares contínuos na região para melhor entendimento da epidemiologia de transmissão do HTLV na população e permitir a vigilância epidemiológica da emergência de novos tipos e subtipos.

RESUMOOs vírus linfotrópicos de células T humanas, quando integrados ao genoma da célula hospedeira, provírus, têm como marcador de replicação seu DNA proviral. A carga proviral parece ser um importante fator no desenvolvimento de patologias associadas a estes retrovírus. Neste estudo foi desenvolvida uma metodologia para quantificação absoluta da carga proviral dos HTLV-1 e HTLV-2 através da PCR em tempo real. Cinqüenta e três amostras de doadores de sangue com teste de ELISA reagente foram submetidas à metodologia, que utilizou o sistema TaqMan ® para três seqüências alvo: HTLV-1, HTLV-2 e albumina. A quantificação proviral absoluta foi determinada através da proporção relativa entre o genoma do HTLV e o genoma da célula hospedeira, levando em consideração o número de leucócitos. O método apresentado é sensível (215 cópias/mL), prático e simples para quantificação proviral, além de eficiente e adequado para confirmação e discriminação da infecção pelos tipos virais. Palavras-chaves: HTLV. PCR quantitativa em tempo real. Carga proviral do HTLV. ABSTRACTWhen the human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) is integrated with the host cell genome (provirus), its proviral DNA is a replication marker. Proviral load appears to be an important factor in the development of diseases related to these retroviruses. In this study, a methodology for absolute quantification of the HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 proviral load using real-time PCR was developed. Fifty-three blood donor samples with positive ELISA test result were subjected to this methodology, which utilized the TaqMan ® system for three target sequences: HTLV-1, HTLV-2 and albumin. The absolute proviral load was quantified using the relative ratio between the HTLV genome and the host cell genome, taking into consideration the white blood cell count. The method presented is sensitive (215 copies/ml), practical and simple for proviral quantification, and is efficient and appropriate for confirming and discriminating infections according to viral type. Key-words: HTLV. Quantitative real-time PCR. HTLV proviral load. Os vírus linfotrópicos de células T humanas (HTLV-1

Soroprevalence for Hepatitis C virus is reported as 2.12% in Northern Brazil, with about 50% of the patients exhibiting a sustained virological response (SVR). Aiming to associate polymorphisms in Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR) with chronic hepatitis C and therapy responses we investigated 125 chronic patients and 345 controls. Additionally, 48 ancestry markers were genotyped to control for population stratification. The frequency of the KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL2+HLA-CAsp80 gene and ligand was higher in chronic infected patients than in controls (p < 0.0009, OR = 3.4; p = 0.001, OR = 3.45). In fact, KIR2DL3 is a weaker inhibitor of NK activity than KIR2DL2, which could explain the association of KIR2DL2 with chronic infection. Moreover, KIR2DS2 and KIR2DS2+HLA-CAsp80 (p < 0.0001, OR = 2.51; p = 0.0084, OR = 2.62) and KIR2DS3 (p < 0.0001; OR = 2.57) were associated with chronic infection, independently from KIR2DL2. No differences in ancestry composition were observed between control and patients, even with respect to therapy response groups. The allelic profile KIR2DL2/KIR2DS2/KIR2DS3 was associated with the chronic hepatitis C (p < 0.0001; OR = 3). Furthermore, the patients also showed a higher mean number of activating genes and a lower frequency of the homozygous AA profile, which is likely secondary to the association with non-AA and/or activating genes. In addition, the KIR2DS5 allele was associated with SVR (p = 0.0261; OR = 0.184).The ancestry analysis of samples ruled out any effects of population substructuring and did not evidence interethnic differences in therapy response, as suggested in previous studies.

BackgroundThe main cause of cervical cancer in the world is high risks human papillomavirus infection (mainly represented by HPV-16 and HPV-18), that are associated to the development of malign transformation of the epithelium. HPV prevalence exhibits a wide geographical variability and HPV-16 variants have been related to an increased risk of developing cervical intraepithelial lesion. The aim of this study was to describe DNA-HPV prevalence and HPV-16 variants among a women population from Northern Brazil.MethodsOne hundred and forty three women, during routine cervical cancer screening, at Juruti Project, fulfilled an epidemiological inquiry and were screened through a molecular HPV test. HPV-16 variants were determined by sequencing the HPV-16 E6 open reading frame.ResultsForty two samples were considered HPV positive (29.4%). None of those had abnormal cytology results. HPV prevalence varied between different age groups (Z(U) = 14.62; p = <0.0001) and high-risk HPVs were more frequent among younger ages. The most prevalent type was HPV-16 (14%) and it variants were classified, predominantly, as European (87.5%).ConclusionsHPV prevalence in our population was higher than described by others and the most prevalent HPV types were high-risk HPVs. The European HPV-16 variant was the most prevalent among HPV-16 positive samples. Our study reinforces the fact that women with normal cytology and a positive molecular test for high-risk HPVs should be submitted to continuous follow up, in order to verify persistence of infection, promoting an early diagnosis of cervical cancer and/or its precursors.

The present study investigated the frequency of the mutations at positions -550 and -221

Introduction:The prevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus types 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) infection is heterogeneous across different populations. We tested the hypothesis that HTLV-1/2 infection occurs more often in dermatological patients. Methods: A total of 1,091 patients from a tropical dermatology clinic were tested for HTLV-1/2. In parallel, 6865 fi rst-time blood donors from the same geographic area were screened for HTLV-1/2; HTLV-1/2 positive blood donors underwent dermatological examinations. Results: The prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in fi rst-time blood donors was 0.14%. No co-occurrence of HTLV-1/2 infection and dermatological conditions was observed. Conclusions: Our results challenge the hypothesis that HTLV-1/2 infection occurs more often in dermatological patients.Keywords: HTLV-1/2. Dermatology. Association. HTLV and skin diseases.Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) was fi rst identifi ed in 1980. It is a member of the Retroviridae family, sub-family Ortothoretroviridae 1 . The global distribution of HTLV is heterogeneous, with high prevalence in Japan, the Caribbean, and South and Central America, and low prevalence in the Middle East and Melanesia 2 . Prevalence studies, performed in blood donors, indigenous populations, and pregnant women in Brazil, suggest that there are an estimated 2 million carriers of HTLV-1/2, and that the distribution varies based on ethnicity, race, and/or population groups 3 . In 1997, a positive test rate for HTLV-1/2 of 0.08% was observed in 2 independent population samples of 1,200 blood donors from Manaus and Florianópolis, and a positive test rate of 1.35% was observed in 1,040 blood donors from Salvador 4 . In a survey of more than 6 million blood donors from 27 Brazilian urban centers, the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 ranged from 0.04% in Florianópolis to 1% in São Luis, with a national average of 0.326% 5. In Manaus, the positive test rate reached 0.53%, which was much higher than was reported in 1997; however, the 2005 study did not confi rm positive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test results by Western Blot. In 2003, a study of 11,121 blood donor samples from the State of Acre reported that 12 (0.11%) samples were positive for HTLV: 8 (0.07%) samples were positive for HTLV-1, 2 (0.02%) samples were positive for HTLV-2, and 2 (0.02%) samples were indeterminate6 .An estimated 95% of individuals infected by HTLV remain asymptomatic; however, 2% develop adult T-cell lymphoma/ leukemia (ATLL) and 2-3% present with HTLV-I associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) 7,8 . In addition, uveitis 9 is associated with HTLV-I. Dermatoses, including infective dermatitis 10 , neoplasia, Norwegian scabies, acquired ichthyosis, and dermatophytosis 11 are associated with HTLV-I infection. These associations suggest that HTVL-I/II may be more prevalent in individuals presenting skin diseases. Interestingly, in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais, 0.7% of 1,229 patients at a dermatology clinic tested positive for HTLV-1/2, which is 3.3 times higher ...