Fibromyalgia in patients infected with HTLV-1 and HTLV-2.

Background

Reports on the association between HTLV-2 infection and the development of diseases in the human host are rare, which has led the scientific community to believe that HTLV-2 is not an important etiological agent of lymphoproliferative or neurodegenerative disorders, which is the case for HTLV-1. In the present study, we demonstrated cases of fibromyalgia in HTLV-1 carriers and, in an unprecedented finding, in two patients with confirmed HTLV-2 infection.

Methods

A total of 957 individuals visited the Virology Laboratory at the Federal University of Pará for screening and confirmation tests for HTLV-1/2 infection. Individuals with confirmed HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 infection were clinically evaluated for signs and symptoms associated with infection.

Results

Sixty-nine individuals (7.2%) were identified as positive for HTLV infection, with 56 confirmed cases of HTLV-1 infection (5.9%), 12 cases of HTLV-2 infection (1.2%) and one case classified as undetermined (0.1%). Sixteen (23.2%) of these patients presented with rheumatological signs and complained of diffuse pain throughout the body; 12 of whom were infected by HTLV-1 (75%) and 4 were infected by HTLV-2 (25%). After anamnesis and careful evaluation, four patients were diagnosed with fibromyalgia, two of whom were infected by HTLV-1 (16.7%; 2/12) and two by HTLV-2 (50%; 2/4). The clinical follow-up and laboratory analysis results are reported in detail in this paper.

Conclusion

Considering the clinical cases presented herein as the first reports of patients with HTLV-2 infection with clinical symptoms of fibromyalgia, the importance of further studies on the pathogenicity of HTLV-2, similar to what have already been performed for HTLV-1, is highlighted. Our results also confirm previous evidence of an association between HTLV-1 infection and fibromyalgia.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024 Inomata Silva, da Cunha Rodrigues, Tsukimata, Botelho, Santos, dos Santos Pereira Neto, Lima, André, Galdino, Monteiro, Yoshikawa, Mendonça, do Amaral, de Britto Pereira Cruz, Onuma, Vallinoto, de Carvalho Klemz and Vallinoto.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.