High prevalence of skin disorders among HTLV-1 infected individuals independent of clinical status.

• Main Authors: Renata Okajima, Augusto C P Oliveira, Jerusa Smid, Jorge Casseb, Jose Antonio Sanches
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-11-01
• Series: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Online Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24244779/pdf/?tool=EBI
• ISSN: 1935-2727; 1935-2735

<h4>Background</h4>Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection can increase the risk of developing skin disorders. This study evaluated the correlation between HTLV-1 proviral load and CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells count among HTLV-1 infected individuals, with or without skin disorders (SD) associated with HTLV-1 infection [SD-HTLV-1: xerosis/ichthyosis, seborrheic dermatitis or infective dermatitis associated to HTLV-1 (IDH)].<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 193 HTLV-1-infected subjects underwent an interview, dermatological examination, initial HTLV-1 proviral load assay, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells count, and lymphproliferation assay (LPA).<h4>Results</h4>A total of 147 patients had an abnormal skin condition; 116 (79%) of them also had SD-HTLV-1 and 21% had other dermatological diagnoses. The most prevalent SD-HTLV-1 was xerosis/acquired ichthyosis (48%), followed by seborrheic dermatitis (28%). Patients with SD-HTLV-1 were older (51 vs. 47 years), had a higher prevalence of myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) (75%), and had an increased first HTLV-1 proviral load and basal LPA compared with patients without SD-HTLV-1. When excluding HAM/TSP patients, the first HTLV-1 proviral load of SD-HTLV-1 individuals remains higher than no SD-HTLV-1 patients.<h4>Conclusions</h4>There was a high prevalence of skin disorders (76%) among HTLV-1-infected individuals, regardless of clinical status, and 60% of these diseases are considered skin disease associated with HTLV-1 infection.