The prevalence of HTLV-1 co-infection among people living with HIV in a tertiary care hospital in Tehran: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human T cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1) share similar routes of transmission and both target T cells. HTLV-1 may negatively affect the course of disease in people living with HIV, but previous evidence is conflicting. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of HIV/HTLV-1 co-infection, routes of transmission, and patients’ CD4+ counts. Material and methods 184 HIV-positive individuals were recruited for this cross-sectional study from the Counseling Center for Behavioral Diseases of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran. Serum samples were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for anti-HTLV-1. Results The mean age of participants was 40.12 ± 11.6 years, and all cases were negative for HTLV-1 infection. Participants were diagnosed on average about 78 months (6 years) ago, and the mean CD4+ count of the participants was 669.22 cells/µl (SD = 284.2). Using ELISA screening, none of the participants from Tehran in various age groups showed concurrent HTLV-1 infection (0 percent). Conclusions Co-infection with HTLV-1 is negligible in HIV-infected patients in Tehran, Iran. Our data also showed that the most common route of HIV transmission among our study subjects was hetero­sexual contact (56.4%).

Keywords

• hiv
• htlv-1
• co-infection
• prevalence