Research on pathogenesis, epidemiology and treatment for HTLV-I related neurological disorders

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Our recent investigation revealed that human lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) can cause a chronic neurological disorder which was named HTLV-I-associated myelopathy(HAM) by Osame et al in 1986. The purpose of this project was to elucidate the pathomechanism, epidemiology and treatment of HTLV-I related neurological disorders including HAM. This research project could obtain the following fruitful results: 1) The viruses detected in ATL and HAM are identical on DNA blotting. 2) Increased replication of HTLV-I in HAM was observed. 3) HLA haplotype-linked high immune responsiveness against HTLV-I was observed in HAM, when compared with ATLL. 4) The identity of HAM and tropical spastic paraparesis was established. 5) High incidence of pulmonary involvement, polyarthritis, and uveitis was found in HAM. 6) alpha-interferon and prednisolone were found to be effective for the treatment of HAM.