Pulmonary function testing in HTLV-I and HTLV-II infected humans: a cohort study

HTLV-I infection has been linked to lung pathology and HTLV-II has been associated with an increased incidence of pneumonia and acute bronchitis. However it is unknown whether HTLV-I or -II infection alters pulmonary function.

We performed pulmonary function testing on HTLV-I, HTLV-II and HTLV seronegative subjects from the HTLV outcomes study (HOST), including vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) corrected for hemoglobin and lung volume. Multivariable analysis adjusted for differences in age, gender, race/ethnicity, height and smoking history.

Mean (standard deviation) pulmonary function values among the 257 subjects were as follows: FVC = 3.74 (0.89) L, FEV1 = 2.93 (0.67) L, DLCOcorr = 23.82 (5.89) ml/min/mmHg, alveolar ventilation (VA) = 5.25 (1.20) L and DLCOcorr/VA = 4.54 (0.87) ml/min/mmHg/L. There were no differences in FVC, FEV1 and DLCOcorr/VA by HTLV status. For DLCOcorr, HTLV-I and HTLV-II subjects had slightly lower values than seronegatives, but neither difference was statistically significant after adjustment for confounding.

There was no difference in measured pulmonary function and diffusing capacity in generally healthy HTLV-I and HTLV-II subjects compared to seronegatives. These results suggest that previously described HTLV-associated abnormalities in bronchoalveolar cells and fluid may not affect pulmonary function.