Inhibitory effect of maternal antibody on mother‐to‐child transmission of human T‐lymphotropic virus type I

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Abstract
In order to evaluate the protective role of the maternal antibody against mother‐to‐child transmission of HTLV‐I, we followed a total of 780 children born to HTLV‐I carrier mothers by investigating the level of anti‐HTLV‐l antibody transferred in utero, decline of the maternal antibody and seroconversion in post‐natal life. The anti‐HTLV‐1 antibody was positively detected within the first 3‐6 months of life and declined at 6‐12 months after birth in all children. After the maternal antibody declined, seroconversion occurred in some of the children following either breast feeding or bottle feeding. The seroconversion rates of short‐term (≦6 months) and long‐term (≧7 months) breast feeders were 4.4% (4/90 cases) and 14.4% (20/139 cases), and the rate of bottle feeders was 5.7% (9/158 cases). Long‐term breast feeding yielded more seroconverters than short‐term breast feeding; 14.4% (20/139 cases) vs. 4.4% (4/90 cases), RR = 3.68, p = 0.018. The seroconversion rate of short‐term breast feeders was nearly equal to that of bottle feeders; 4.4% (4/90 cases) vs. 5.7% (9/158 cases), RR = 0.770, p = 0.471. When neonatal lymphocytes were cultured with breast milk cells of HTLV‐I carrier mothers, the in vitro infection of HTLV‐I was inhibited by the addition of HTLV‐I‐seropositive cord‐blood plasma. Our results suggest that the maternal antibody may inhibit HTLV‐I infection by short‐term breast feeding but not by long‐term breast feeding after decline of the maternal antibody.

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