Seroprevalence of HTLV-I and HTLV-II

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Abstract
In a study similar to that by Khabbaz et al. (Feb. 6 issue)1 on the seroprevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection among intravenous drug users in the United States, we evaluated the seroprevalence in Italy of antibodies to HTLV Type I (HTLV-I) and Type II (HTLV-II) in 985 intravenous drug users from whom serum samples were collected in different years, beginning in 1979. Of the persons we studied, 474 came from methadone maintenance centers in the Lombardy region (northeast Italy), and 511 were from a therapeutic community for drug rehabilitation. We also tested 110 patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who had various stages of HIV disease. The screening for antibody to HTLV-I and HTLV-II was performed by enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and repeatedly reactive samples were confirmed by Western blotting and a radioimmunoprecipitation assay. The discrimination of anti-HTLV-I reactivity from anti-HTLV-II reactivity was carried out by research EIAs (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago) that use peptides specific for the env region of HTLV-I and HTLV-II.2