Association Between HTLV-I Infection with Chronic Lupoid Leishmaniasis

Objective(s): One of the different types of skin leishmaniasis is the Chronic Lupoid Leishmaniasis (CLL), which is caused by abnormal immune response. On the other hand, HTLV-I has been known to exist in some infectious diseases. Human T cell lymphotropic virus type1 (HTLV-I) and cutanous leishmaniasis exists endemically in Mashhad. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HTLV-I in CLL patients. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study involved 51 CLL patients admitted to cutaneous leishmaniasis clinics of Ghaem and Imam Reza hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. The blood samples were examined for serology tests through ELISA method. Results: The results of the experiments for evaluating the existence of HTLV-I in 51 patients under study in this research were proved to be negative. Conclusion: According to this pilot study, the distribution of HTLV-I in CLL patients is not higher than normal population.