[Uveitis in human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) carriers--1. A seroepidemiological study]

A seroepidemiological study was carried out to find out if human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) was closely associated with uveitis in two hospitals: one in an area where HTLV-I was highly prevalent (Miyakonojo, Miyazaki) and the other in an area where HTLV-I was less prevalent (Kurume). In the highly prevalent HTLV-I area, the seroprevalence in patients with idiopathic uveitis (78/206, 37.9%) was significantly higher than in patients with non-uveitic ocular diseases (73/380, 19. 2%) or in patients with uveitis with defined etiologies (8/80, 10.0%). A more striking finding was that the seroprevalence in the younger group (20-49 years) with idiopathic uveitis in the area was 40/82 (48.8%), but only 9/114 (7.9%) in the other two reference groups. The odds of contracting idiopathic uveitis for HTLV-I infected persons was estimated at 11.0 in the younger group, and 2.0 in the older group. Similar observations were recorded even in the less prevalent area (Kurume). These data thus suggest that HTLV-I infection is a risk factor for idiopathic uveitis.