1985 Volume 26 Issue 9 Pages 1430-1435
The incidence of human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV) carriers was examined in the Nagasaki district, which is known to be an ATL endemic area. Sera from 125 (11.0%) of 1138 adults were revealed to be positive for antibodies against ATL-associated antigen (ATLA) using the indirect immunofluorescence method. In short-term culture, lymphocytes from 20 (23.0%) of 87 carriers expressed ATLA detected by indirect immunofluorescence method.
May-Giemsa stained films were prepared from the peripheral blood of 85 HTLV carriers and 54 sero-negative controls without the use of anticoagulant, and lymphocytes with nuclear irregularity such as indented, binuclear and lobulated forms were counted. The percentage of these irregular lymphocytes were relatively higher in HTLV carriers (2.4% of 100 lymphocytes) than in seronegative controls (1.8% of 100 lymphocytes). Furthermore, HTLV carriers whose lymphocytes expressed ATLA in short-term culture showed significantly higher percentage of irregular lymphocytes (4.0% of 100 lymphocytes). It was suggested that there exist some persons with considerable number of irregular lymphocytes, mimicking the morphology of ATL cells, in HTLV carriers.
