ORAL INFECTION OF A COMMON MARMOSET WITH HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA-VIRUS TYPE-I (HTLV-I) BY INOCULATING FRESH HUMAN-MILK OF HTLV-I CARRIER MOTHERS

  • 1 December 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 76  (12) , 1147-1153
Abstract
To obtain definitive evidence that milk-borne infection plays a critical role in the endemy or mother-to-child transmission of human T-cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I), we inoculated concentrated fresh human milk cells obtained from HTLV-I carrier mothers into the oral cavity of a common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Twenty-eight milk samples were collected (5-10 ml each) from 17 carrier mothers in the first week after delivery. Cells in the milk were centrifuged down and resuspended in 1/10 vol of the milk fluid. The concentrated cell suspensions were successively inoculated into the oral cavity of a common marmoset. The marmoset was found to be seroconverted by indirect immunofluorescence assay at 2.5 months after the first inoculation of the milk (3.5 .times. 108 cells in total), and was later confirmed to be infected with HTLV-I by the detection of viral antigen expression in short-term cultures of its peripheral blood T-lymphocytes. The results strongly support the working hypothesis that milk-borne infection plays a significant role in the mother-to-child transmission of HTLV-I.

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