Investigation of the Relationship between HTLV-1 Infection and MMP-3 Gene Expression in HTLV-1 Positive Cardiac Patients

Background and aims: human t-lymphotropic virus type 1 (htlv-1) is a member of retroviridae family that causes atl and ham/tsp. many inflammatory diseases are associated with this virus, such as sjögren's syndrome, hashimoto's thyroiditis, uveitis and also atherosclerosis. htlv-1 performs in long latency period and can activate the immune responses in coronary vessels. activated immune system produces inflammatory factors such as tnf-α cytokine that can increase matrix metalloproteinases as a main factor in patients with coronary artery diseases (cad). we aimed to determine the relation between this virus infection and mmp-3 expression in atherosclerosis patients. materials and methods: 44 patients (13 individuals cad+ htlv-1+, 8 individuals cadhtlv- 1+, 13 individuals cad+ htlv-1- and 10 individuals cad- htlv-1-) were selected and mmp-3 gene expression was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. results: there was no significant correlation between mmp-3 gene expression and htlv-1 expression level in htlv-1-positive cardiac and atherosclerosis patients. conclusions: although the main risk factor in atherosclerosis patients is mmp-3, despite our expectation, no significant correlation was observed in our statistical analysis within four examined groups (p≥0.05). this evaluation showed higher mmp-3gene expression but not significant in cad+ htlv-1+ group compared to cad+ htlv-1- group. the larger sample sizes may help to improve the outcome to reach a significant level.