Blood Res.  2017 Jun;52(2):106-111. 10.5045/br.2017.52.21.106.

Evaluation of the role of TAX, HBZ, and HTLV-1 proviral load on the survival of ATLL patients

• Akbarin MM
• Shirdel A
• Bari A
• Mohaddes S
• Rafatpanah H
• Karimani E
• Etminani K
• Golabpour
• Torshizi R

• KMID: 2413327
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5045/br.2017.52.21.106

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive malignancy with very poor prognosis and short survival, caused by the human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1). The HTLV-1 biomarkers trans-activator x (TAX) and HTLV-1 basic leucine zipper factor (HBZ) are main oncogenes and life-threatening elements. This study aimed to assess the role of the TAX and HBZ genes and HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL) in the survival of patients with ATLL.
METHODS
Forty-three HTLV-1-infected individuals, including 18 asymptomatic carriers (AC) and 25 ATLL patients (ATLL), were evaluated between 2011 and 2015. The mRNA expression of TAX and HBZ and the HTLV-1 PVL were measured by quantitative PCR.
RESULTS
Significant differences in the mean expression levels of TAX and HBZ were observed between the two study groups (ATLL and AC, P=0.014 and P=0.000, respectively). In addition, the ATLL group showed a significantly higher PVL than AC (P=0.000). There was a significant negative relationship between PVL and survival among all study groups (P=0.047).
CONCLUSION
The HTLV-1 PVL and expression of TAX and HBZ were higher in the ATLL group than in the AC group. Moreover, a higher PVL was associated with shorter survival time among all ATLL subjects. Therefore, measurement of PVL, TAX, and HBZ may be beneficial for monitoring and predicting HTLV-1-infection outcomes, and PVL may be useful for prognosis assessment of ATLL patients. This research demonstrates the possible correlation between these virological markers and survival in ATLL patients.

Keyword

HTLV-1; ATLL; TAX; HBZ; Proviral load

MeSH Terms

Adult
Biomarkers
Human T-lymphotropic virus 1*
Humans
Leucine Zippers
Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell*
Oncogenes
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Prognosis
RNA, Messenger
T-Lymphocytes
Taxes*
Trans-Activators
Biomarkers
RNA, Messenger
Trans-Activators

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Survival time of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) patients according to subtype.

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  Fig. 2 Association between survival time and proviral load (PVL) in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) patients (five PVL groups were defined to examine the impact of HTLV-1 PVL on survival among patients with ATLL).

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