Hematologic and Biochemical Changes Associated with Human T Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Infection in Jamaica: A Report from the Population-Based

Objective. We investigated changes in hematologic and biochemical parameters associated with human T lym-photropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection, antibody titer, and provirus load. Additionally, on a subset of partic-ipants, we assessed the epidemiologic relationship of HTLV-1 with Strongyloides stercoralis. Methods. Among volunteer blood donors in Jamaica, HTLV-1 carriers ( ) were frequency matched withnp 482 HTLV-1 negative subjects ( ) by age (5 years), sex, and date of blood donation (3 months). HTLV-1np 355 antibody titer, provirus load, S. stercoralis IgG antibodies, complete blood cell count, blood chemistry, and urinalysis parameters were measured. Results. HTLV-1 carriers, compared with HTLV-1–negative individuals, had elevated levels of cleaved lymphocytes (24.5 % vs. 16.4%), any lymphocyte abnormalities (atypical, cleaved, and reactive lymphocytes combined, 45.7% vs. 35.4%), and g-glutamyl transferase levels (21.2 vs. 19.6 IU/L), as well as lower eosinophil count (2.6 % vs. 3.1%). Among carriers, HTLV-1 antibody titer ( ) was inversely correlated with mean corpuscular volumenp 482 ( ) and positively correlated with levels of total protein (), phosphorus (), and lactaterp0.10 rp 0.16 rp 0.12 dehydrogenase (). HTLV-1–provirus load ( ) was higher among carriers with cleaved lymphocytesrp 0.24 np 326 and any lymphocyte abnormalities. Provirus load was inversely correlated with hemoglobin (), meanrp0.1