HTLV-III Serology in Hemophilia: Relationship with Immunologic Abnormalities

Authors

Joan C. Gill, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Jay E. Menitove, Community Blood CenterFollow
Philip R. Anderson
James T. Casper, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Sushilkumar G. Devare
Charles Wood, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Stuart Adair
James Casey
Christi Scheffel
Robert R. Montgomery, Blood Center of WisconsinFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1986

Comments

Published in the Journal of Pediatrics 108(4) (1986): 511-516. Copyright 1986, Mosby/Elsevier. Used by permission.

Abstract

We investigated the relationship of the presence of antibodies to HTLV-III and immunologic abnormalities in patients with hemophilia. Serum antibodies to HTLV-III were analyzed by ELISA assay, immunoprecipitation of labeled cell extracts, and immunoprecipitation of purified HTLV-III p24. Thirty-four (61%) of the total group (n = 56) had antibody to HTLV-III; 34 (76%) of 45 patients given commercial factor VIII preparations were seropositive, compared with none of 11 patients treated exclusively with cryoprecipitate obtained from volunteer blood donors. Of patients who were seropositive for HTLV-III antibody, 94% had abnormal T4/T8 ratios, and 33% of those whose serum was antibody negative had abnormal T4/T8 ratios; five patients, each antibody positive, have lymphadenopathy syndrome. Sequential studies in a subset of patients indicate that there is a changing pattern of antibody production to HTLV-III antigens after seroconversion.