The efficacy of interferon-alpha treatment in human T-lymphotropic virus type-I-associated myelopathy.

Abstract

We investigated the efficacy of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment in 5 patients with human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy (HAM). Treatment with IFN-alpha yielded clinical improvement of gait, and sensory and/or sphincter disturbance in 4 out of the 5 HAM patients. IFN-alpha treatment did not bring about uniform changes in lymphocyte subsets or anti-HTLV-I antibody titer of peripheral blood. Although the stimulation indexes to phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and pokeweed mitogen were decreased in the culture of the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in the 5 HAM patients before the treatment, the stimulation indexes to these mitogens were significantly increased except in 1 case after the IFN-alpha treatment. These changes were based primarily on the depression of the spontaneous proliferation of PBL without mitogen. These results appear to point out a very important phenomenon for the investigation of the pathogenesis of HAM.

• Authors: T Nakamura, K Shibayama, K Nagasato, H Matsuo, M Tsujihata, S Nagataki
• Journal: Japanese journal of medicine (Jpn J Med) 1990 Jul-Aug Vol. 29 Issue 4 Pg. 362-7 ISSN: 0021-5120 [Print] Japan
• PMID: 2273619 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Interferon Type I
• Phytohemagglutinins
• Pokeweed Mitogens
• Concanavalin A

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Concanavalin A (pharmacology)
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• Female
• Humans
• Interferon Type I (pharmacology)
• Lymphocyte Activation (drug effects)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic (drug therapy, immunology)
• Phytohemagglutinins (pharmacology)
• Pokeweed Mitogens (pharmacology)