Abstract:
Human T cell leukemia (lymphotropic) virus type III (HTLV-III) belongs to a group of human retroviruses including HTLV-I, the cause of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, and HTLV-II, which was isolated from a cell line established from a patient with a variant of hairy cell leukemia. Evidence implicating HTLV-III as the etiologic agent of AIDS and related syndromes, and a description of its biological characteristics are presented under the following headings: seroepidemiology of AIDS, isolation of HTLV-III, transmission of HTLV-III by heterosexual contact, origin of HTLV-III, and control of HTLV-III. The frequent isolation of HTLV-III from patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complex (ARC), and the detection of antibodies specific for HTLV-III in nearly all patients with these diseases, leaves little doubt that HTLV-III is etiologically involved. This etiologic association is further strengthened by the detection of HTLV-III infection in hemophiliacs and children with AIDS, and in HTLV-III-infected blood donors and the otherwise healthy recipients of this blood who subsequently develop AIDS. Furthermore, the ability of HTLV-III to selectively infect OKT4/leu3a cells with a resulting cytopathic effect is consistent with clinical observations in ARC/AIDS patients. Several groups of investigators have also detected retroviral infections in patients with AIDS and in individuals at risk for AIDS; they designated these viral isolates variously as LAV (lymphadenopathy-associated virus), and IDAV1 and IDAV2 (immune deficiency-associated virus). Although the basic characterization of HTLV-III as a new retrovirus is well advanced, there are many questions concerning its biological and biochemical properties which remain to be answered; these include the fundamental question concerning the mechanism by which the virus exerts its cytopathic effect and causes AIDS. (79 Refs)
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*IMMUNOLOGY/PREVENTION & CONTROL/TRANSMISSION Antibodies, Viral/ANALYSIS AIDS-Related Complex/IMMUNOLOGY Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Fluorescent Antibody Technique Human HIV/*IMMUNOLOGY/ISOLATION & PURIF Risk Sex Behavior T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer/IMMUNOLOGY MEETING PAPER
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