Natural infection in non‐human primates with adult T‐cell leukemia virus or a closely related agent

Abstract

A total of 703 sera from 10 species of monkeys were examined for the presence of antibodies to adult T-cell leukemia (ATL)-associated antigens (ATLA). ATLA represent core protein(s) of ATL virus (ATLV) and ATLV-determined polypeptides. Anti-ATLA antibodies were found in all seven macaque species tested but not in three non-macaque species. The frequencies of seropositive macaques ranged from 10 to 50%. In three macaque species (Japanese monkeys, rhesus monkeys, and crab-eating monkeys) in which sufficient numbers of animals were studied, more females than males were anti-ATLA positive and the antibody-positive rate increased with age. In Japanese monkeys, over 70% were seropositive after the age of 10 years. A family study of Japanese monkeys suggested maternal transmission of ATLV or a closely related agent. These seroepidemiological features are consistent with those of Japanese in the ATL-endemic area. Three of 10 rhesus monkeys were found to be anti-ATLA-positive 13 days after arrival in Japan, suggesting that they had been infected with ATLV in Indonesia where they were captured. Thus, ATLV appears to be prevalent among several macaque species as well as in man, and its pathogenetic role in these non-human primates should be explored in relation to ATL in man.

A Field Study of Infection with Human T‐Cell Leukemia Virus among Asian Primates

“…Table 3 shows the results summarized by age and sex which were determined by morphological observation. Adult Celebes macaques showed a seropositive rate of 36.4%; this incidence was comparable to that for Japanese macaques (about 40%) (8,11). The age dependency of the incidence is also presented in Table 3.…”

Viral Aetiology of Adult T-Cell Leukaemia

“…These cell lines, however, contained the surface markers not only ofT but also of B and non-T, non-B cells. Monkey ATLV-positive cells were also shown to immortalize normal human lymphocytes derived from PBL and CBL (Miyoshi et al, 1983a;M. Okada et al, unpublished).…”

“…C-type particles indistinguishable from human ATLV were also induced from lymphocyte cultures from these animals as in man. Nation-wide surveys of troops of wild Japanese monkeys revealed that a high incidence (20 to 30~o) of anti-ATLVpositive monkeys were present in most troops, not only in endemic areas of human ATL, but also in non-endemic areas (Miyoshi et al, 1983a;Hayami et al, 1984a). Yamamoto et al (1983a) found that a high frequency (about 70~) of African green monkeys imported into and kept in West Germany were infected with ATLV-Iike agents as shown by immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation tests.…”

Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans

“…80% and generally increased with age. African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) and macaque species generally had the highest seroprevalence (Miyoshi et al, 1983;Hayami et al, 1984;Ishikawa et al, 1987;Fultz, 1994). A virus isolated from Iymphoid cell lines established from seropositive monkeys was shown by Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA, nucleotide sequence analysis and type-specific synthetic peptide epitopes to be 90-95% homo10gous to HTL V-I Tsujimoto et al, 1985;Watanabe et al, 1985;Ishikawa et al, 1987;Rudolph et aL., 1991) and was designated as simian T -cell 1 ymphotropic virus type 1 (STL V-I).…”