Serologic confirmation of simian T-lymphotropic virus type I infection by using immunoassays developed for human T-lymphotropic virus antibody detection

J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Apr;30(4):858-61. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.4.858-861.1992.

Abstract

Serum specimens from diverse species of Old World monkeys, categorized as seropositive (n = 97) or seronegative (n = 23) for human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) infection, were tested by using recombinant env-spiked Western immunoblot assays and synthetic peptide assays for simultaneous detection and discrimination of simian T-lymphotropic virus (STLV) infection. Of the 97 seropositive specimens, 93 reacted with the recombinant transmembrane (r21env) protein and 90 reacted with a recombinant, MTA-1, derived from the central region of the external glycoprotein of HTLV-I (rgp46env), thus yielding test sensitivities of 96 and 93%, respectively. While 1 of the 23 negative monkey specimens reacted with r21env, none reacted with rgp46env, for overall specificities of 96 and 100%, respectively. Analysis of synthetic peptide-based immunoassays demonstrated that while 85 of 97 (88%) seropositive specimens reacted with HTLV-I-specific epitope (p19gag), none of the specimens reacted with HTLV-II-specific epitope (gp52env). These results show that recombinant envelope-spiked Western blots provide a simple means for serologic confirmation of STLV-I infection and that type-specific synthetic peptides can be used to confirm the virus type in seropositive monkey specimens.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Blotting, Western
  • Cercopithecidae
  • Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / blood
  • Gene Products, env / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunoassay / methods*
  • Monkey Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Monkey Diseases / immunology
  • Peptides / immunology
  • Radioimmunoprecipitation Assay
  • Retroviridae Infections / diagnosis
  • Retroviridae Infections / immunology
  • Retroviridae Infections / veterinary*
  • Simian T-lymphotropic virus 1 / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Deltaretrovirus Antibodies
  • Gene Products, env
  • Peptides