DETECTION OF HTLV-I ANTIBODIES AND DNA IN BLOOD SAMPLE OF A PATIENT WITH MYELOPATHY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

We describe a case of human T-lymphotropic virus type I associated myelopathy in a 50-year old woman in Nigeria. The patient presented with progressive loss of tone to the two lower limbs and later inability to walk. The HTLV-I antibody presence in the plasma collected from the patient was repeatedly detected by enzyme immunoassays (Abbott HTLV-I EIA and Coulter SELECT-HTLV I/II) and confirmed by Western blot technique. In addition, HTLV-I DNA was amplified from the genomic DNA isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the patient by the polymerase chain reaction technique. This finding is significant being the first report of association of HTLV-I with myelopathy in Nigeria.Descrevemos um caso de infecção por HTLV-I associado a mielopatia, em mulher de 50 anos, na Nigéria. A paciente apresentou fraqueza progressiva dos membros inferiores e posteriormente incapacidade para andar. A presença de anticorpo HTLV-I no plasma coletado da paciente foi repetidamente detectada pelos ensaios imunoenzimáticos (Abbott HTLV-I EIA e Coulter SELECT-HTLV I/II) e confirmada pela técnica de Western Blot. Adicionalmente amplificou-se o DNA do HTLV-I a partir do DNA genômico isolado das células mononucleares do sangue periférico da paciente através da técnica PCR. Este achado é significativo sendo o primeiro relato de associação de HTLV-I com mielopatia, na Nigéria.

Keywords

• HTLV-I
• Myelopathy
• Nigeria