Matityahu Shaklai

Ethnic cluster of HTLV‐I infection in Israel among the Mashhadi Jewish population

A high prevalence of human T‐lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV‐I) infection among Israeli Jews was previously reported. In the present study, screening for HTLV‐I of Israeli Jews was expanded to 10 ethnic groups. HTLV‐I antibodies were tested by the particle agglutination assay, ELISA, and by Western blot as a confirmatory method. The HTLV‐I proviral genome was tested by nested PCR with tax primers (SK43/SK44 and Tr101/Tr102). The PCR tests were carried out in all seropositive subjects and the seronegative family members of the seropositives subjects in the Iranian population. Sixty‐eight of the 1,679 subjects (4.1%) were found to be seropositive. The Jews originating from Mashhad had the highest infection rate of 60/306 (20%). Of the 479 Iranian non‐Mashhadi Jews, 6 (1.3%) were seropositive. Of the 894 non‐Iranian Israelis, only 2 (0.2%) were seropositive. HTLV‐I proviral DNA was found in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 66 out of 68 seropositive subjects and 6 out of 75 seronegative subjects. Sixty out of 123 (49%) Mashhadi Jews and 8 out of 14 (57%) non‐Mashhadi Iranian Jews were PCR‐positive. Three out of three seropositive non‐Iranian Israelis were PCR positive. One non‐Iranian Israeli (who originated from Ukraine) without family connections to the Iranian Jews was also PCR‐positive. One hundred eighteen saliva samples (84 from subjects of Mashhadi origin, 31 from Iranian origin, and 4 of other origins) were also screened. Antibodies for HTLV‐I were found in 23 out of 46 saliva samples from the individuals with particle agglutination (PA) and/or PCR‐positive findings in blood. Twenty out of 23 PA‐positive saliva samples also contained the proviral DNA. It is concluded that HTLV‐I infection in Israel is mainly limited to Jews originating from Iran (most of them from Mashhad) and their family members. J. Med. Virol. 56:269–274, 1998.

Precise quantification of haemoglobin in erythroid precursors and plasma

Introduction:  Haemoglobin (Hb) quantification in whole blood is possible by various spectrophotometric methods. However, determination of low‐level Hb in erythroid precursors or haemolytic plasma is inaccurate because of contribution from light scatter and/or nonhaemoglobin components with overlapping absorbance. Therefore, this study developed a sole method allowing accurate spectrophotometric quantification of Hb at a low concentration range.

Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 in a seronegative B chronic lymphocytic leukemia patient.

Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiological agent of adult T cell leukemia and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis. HTLV-1 infection in patients with B cell-type chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is rare and has been reported only in areas in which HTLV-1 is endemic. In the present study, we detected HTLV-1 proviral DNA by polymerase chain reaction, using tax primers, in peripheral blood lymphocytes from a B-CLL patient, an immigrant to Israel, where HTLV-1 infection is not endemic. F344 rats injected intravenously with peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from the patient developed HTLV-1 antibodies. Titers of antibody to HTLV-1 in the rat blood were 1:512 by particle agglutination; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting were also positive. No antibody against HTLV-1 was demonstrated in the animal model after inoculation of either purified B lymphocytes from the B-CLL patient or peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors. This is one of the few studies showing the presence of HTLV-1 provirus in T lymphocytes of a B-CLL patient who had multiple infections, and died of salmonella sepsis, and the first report of HTLV-1 antibody induction in an animal model by inoculation of lymphocytes obtained from an HTLV-1-infected B-CLL patient.