High prevalence of skin disorders among HTLV-1-infected individuals independent of clinical statusymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)

Abstract

Background: Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection can increase the risk of developing skin disorders. This study evaluated the correlation between HTLV-1 proviral load, and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells count among HTLV-1 infected individuals, with or without skin disorders (SD) associated with HTLV-1 infection (SD-HTLV-1: xerosis/ichthyosis, seborrheic dermatitis or infective dermatitis associated to HTLV-1 (IDH)),Methods: A total of 193 HTLV-1-infected subjects underwent an interview, dermatological examination, initial HTLV-1 proviral load assay, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells count, and lymphproliferation assay (LPA).Results: A total of 147 patients had an abnormal skin condition; 116 (79%) of them also had SD-HTLV-1 and 21% had other dermatological diagnoses. The most prevalent SD-HTLV-1 was xerosis/acquired ichthyosis (48%), followed by seborrheic dermatitis (28%). Patients with SD-HTLV-1 were older (51 vs. 47 years), had a higher prevalence of myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) (75%) and had an increased first HTLV-1 proviral load and basal LPA compared with patients without SD-HTLV-1. When excluding HAM/TSP patients, the first HTLV-1 proviral load of SD-HTLV-1 individuals remains higher than no SD-HTLV-1 patients. Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of skin disorders (76%) among HTLV-1-infected individuals, regardless of clinical status, and 60% of these diseases are considered skin disease associated to HTLV-1 infection. (AU)