HTLV-I Infection: Virus structure, Immune Response to the Virus and Genetic Association Studies in HTLV-I-Infected Individuals

Although the structure of human t iymphoptropic virus type i (htlv-i) has beenknown well, the function of some proteins encoded by htlv-i px region is not fullyunderstood. furthermore, the responses of the immune system to htlv-i remain stillunknown. most of htlv-i-infected individuals show a strong and persistently activatedcytotoxic t-cell (ctl) response to the virus. the frequency of htlv-i specific ctl ishigher in patients with htlv-i-associated myelopathy/ tropical spastic paraparesis(ham/tsp) compared with htlv-i carriers, however, the efficacy of the immuneresponse determines the outcome of htlv-i-associated diseases. among the risk factorswhich contribute to the observed differences between ham/tsp patients and htlv-icarriers, the interaction between different genes and/or environmental factors seem to beimportant. these factors may also involve in outcome of htlv-i infection in infectedindividuals.