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Cutaneous manifestations of human T cell leukemia virus type I infection in an experimental model
R M Simpson1, M Leno, B S Hubbard
1Laboratory of Immunogentics, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA.
Skin diseases ranging from infective dermatitis to cutaneous lymphoma have been associated with human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV) type I. A generalized exfoliative papillated dermatopathy occurred in a rabbit 20 months into a course of chronic HTLV-I infection. Biopsies revealed epidermotropic T cell infiltrates, including Sezary-like cells, that resulted in a pattern mimicking cutaneous T cell lymphoma. HTLV-I was isolated from affected skin, and virus expression was detected in cutaneous cultures. Sezary-like cells also occurred in circulation. Interleukin-2-independent lymphocyte cultures, established from blood exhibiting elevated CD8 T cell levels and CD25 expression, had polyclonal integration of provirus. The findings are similar to those in evolving adult T cell leukemia lymphoma and may represent a prelymphomatous change. The cutaneous lymphoproliferative lesion resulted from HTLV-I infection and further establishes the New Zealand White rabbit inoculated with the RH/K34 cell line as a suitable model for investigation of HTLV-I pathogenesis.
Skin diseases ranging from infective dermatitis to cutaneous lymphoma have been associated with human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV) type I. A generalized exfoliative papillated dermatopathy occurred in a rabbit 20 months into a course of chronic HTLV-I infection. Biopsies revealed epidermotropic T cell infiltrates, including Sezary-like cells, that resulted in a pattern mimicking cutaneous T cell lymphoma. HTLV-I was isolated from affected skin, and virus expression was detected in cutaneous cultures. Sezary-like cells also occurred in circulation. Interleukin-2-independent lymphocyte cultures, established from blood exhibiting elevated CD8 T cell levels and CD25 expression, had polyclonal integration of provirus. The findings are similar to those in evolving adult T cell leukemia lymphoma and may represent a prelymphomatous change. The cutaneous lymphoproliferative lesion resulted from HTLV-I infection and further establishes the New Zealand White rabbit inoculated with the RH/K34 cell line as a suitable model for investigation of HTLV-I pathogenesis.