@article{17912,
  keywords = {Adult, Antibodies, Bacterial, Antigens, Bacterial, Cross Reactions, Deltaretrovirus Infections, Female, Gene Products, gag, Gene Products, pol, Glycolipids, HIV Antibodies, HIV Envelope Protein gp120, HIV Infections, Humans, leprosy, Lipopolysaccharides, Male, Middle Aged, Mycobacterium leprae},
  author = {Kashala O and Marlink R and Ilunga M and Diese M and Gormus B and Xu K and Mukeba P and Kasongo K and Essex M},
  title = {Infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T cell lymphotropic viruses among leprosy patients and contacts: correlation between HIV-1 cross-reactivity and antibodies to lipoarabinomannan.},
  abstract = {<p>To determine the association between leprosy and human retroviral infections, 57 leprosy patients, 39 leprosy contacts, and 500 pregnant women were investigated serologically for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) and human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II. Antibodies to Mycobacterium leprae phenolic glycolipid I (PGL-I), and lipoarabinomannan (LAM) were also analyzed. A low prevalence of HIV-1 infection was observed among leprosy patients (3.5%), leprosy contacts (0), and pregnant women (3.6%). Antibodies to HTLV-I but not -II were found more often in leprosy patients (8.7%) and contacts (12.8%) than in pregnant women (0). Sera from leprosy patients and leprosy contacts were often false-positive for HIV-1 by ELISA and were indeterminate by Western blot. LAM IgM and PGL-I IgM antibodies in sera from leprosy patients yielded significant cross-reactivities with HIV-1 pol and gag proteins. These data suggest that mycobacterial cell wall antigens may share common epitopes with HIV. Caution should be exercised when interpreting HIV-1 ELISA and Western blot data from regions where leprosy or other mycobacterial diseases are endemic.</p>},
  year = {1994},
  journal = {The Journal of infectious diseases},
  volume = {169},
  pages = {296-304},
  month = {1994 Feb},
  issn = {0022-1899},
  doi = {10.1093/infdis/169.2.296},
  language = {eng},
}