Neuroimmunomodulation of human T-lymphotrophic virus type I/II infection

Abstract

Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus type I (HTLV-1) is an oncogenic retrovirus. Infection is associated with a variety of human diseases including HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraperesis (HAM/TSP). Large numbers of epidemiological, virological, immunological, and clinical studies on HTLV-1 and HTLV-1 associated diseases have been published, although the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP is not yet fully understood. In the last several years, researchers have shown that several key factors are important in HTLV-1 associated neurological diseases including high HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL) and a strong immune response to the virus. In this review, we summarize the pathophysiological findings on HAM/TSP and focus on the viral-host immune responses such as virus specific CD8+ T cell responses in infected individuals.