PROVIRAL LOAD OF HUMAN T-CELL LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE 1 (HTLV-1) AND COMORBIDITIES IN ASSYMPTOMATIC CARRIERS

This study aimed to describe comorbidities and symptoms of asymptomatic HTLV-1-infected patients according to the proviral load. Medical records were revised and patients categorized in high and low proviral load groups: >5% and <5% -infected cells, respectively. Frequency of symptoms was quantified. A total of 64 patients were evaluated. Twenty three (36%) patients had high proviral load. All patients had clinical abnormalities reported in the medical records. The most frequently comorbidities were hypertension (37.5%) and depression (25%) and the most frequent symptoms were neurological (82.8%) and ophthalmologic (65.6%). There were no differences in the frequencies of clinical manifestations in patients with low and high proviral load, except for urinary retention, that was more prevalent in the group with high proviral (34.8%). In summary, patients infected with HTLV-1 asymptomatic have a wide spectrum of clinical abnormalities and should be closely followed in order to identify the development of HTLV-1-associated diseases.