Detection of simian T-lymphotropic virus type I using the polymerase chain reaction

To develop the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of simian T-lymphotropic virus type I (STLV-I) infection, cell lines or peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 2 non-human primate species [African green monkeys (AGM), Cercopithecus aethiops; baboon, Papio cynocephalus] were evaluated for their STLV-I status using oligonucleotide primer pairs and probes specific for the tax and pol gene regions of the closely related human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). These PCR results were compared with serologic (Western blot assay) and viral culture (p24-antigen capture assay) data. PCR products for both gene regions were detected in established baboon, Japanese macaque and rhesus macaque STLV-I-producing cell lines. STLV-I tax and pol products were also detected in PBMC from 4 of 4 infected AGM and 4 of 4 infected baboons, each of which were also Western-blot-positive and p24-antigen-capture-positive. Of the remaining AGM (n = 7) and baboon (n = 1) which were PCR-negative, each was also Western-blot-negative and p24-antigen-capture-negative. Two seronegative and virus-culture-negative AGM were classified as PCR indeterminate with weak reactivity using tax primers. These primer pairs failed to amplify DNA from uninfected human PBMC, an uninfected human lymphoid cell line, a simian immunodeficiency virus macaque (SIVmac251)-infected cell line and a simian-retrovirus-type-D(SRV-D)-infected cell line. HTLV-II-pol-specific primer pairs failed to amplify DNA from STLV-I-infected cell lines and PBMC from STLV-I-infected monkeys. Further, HTLV-I pol and tax primer pairs successfully amplified RNA from HTLV-I- and STLV-I-infected cell lines by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR. We have demonstrated excellent specificity in the detection of STLV-I by PCR using these HTLV-I-derived primers and probes. Additionally, our data suggest that the tax and pol gene regions are conserved between HTLV-I and STLV-I strains found among these diverse species of non-human primates.