Influence of IL28B Genetic Variation on the Phenotype Infection of HTLV-1

Only 5 to 10% of patients infected with HTLV-1 develop a disease related to infection. The two most serious diseases are adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and Tropical spastic paraparesis /HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (TSP / HAM). Factors influencing the development of TSP / HAM in the individual HTLV-1 are not yet completely understood. Patients TSP / HAM have a HTLV-1 proviral load (amount of virus) that is 6-10 times higher than seropositive asymptomatic.

Various studies have shown that the development of TSP / HAM in the subject HTLV-1 and its rapid evolution is partly attributed to the failure of the immune system that regulates viral replication and expression.

It has recently been shown that different versions of Single Nucleotide (human leukocyte antigen) rs12979860, located upstream of the gene for Interleukin 28B (IL28B), influenced the severity of infection with hepatitis C and effectiveness of treatment.

By analogy with hepatitis C, a Spanish (Treviño et al., 2012) examined this SNP(single nucleotide polymorphism) in 12 patients TSP / HAM and 29 asymptomatic HIV-positive. CT or TT genotype was statistically more frequent in the group TSP / HAM than in asymptomatic patients (80% versus 20%) and was associated with HTLV-1 proviral load higher.

We propose a broader group of patients in our population and Afro-Caribbean, to confirm the results of the latter study was conducted in a predominantly Latin American population.