@article{mbs:/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-73-7-1805, author = "Nerurkar, Vivek R. and Miller, Mark A. and Leon-Monzon, Marta E. and Ajdukiewicz, Andrew B. and Jenkins, Carol L. and Sanders, Raymond C. and Godec, Mark S. and Garruto, Ralph M. and Yanagihara, Richard", title = "Failure to isolate human T cell lymphotropic virus type I and to detect variant-specific genomic sequences by polymerase chain reaction in Melanesians with indeterminate Western immunoblot", journal= "Journal of General Virology", year = "1992", volume = "73", number = "7", pages = "1805-1810", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-73-7-1805", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/0022-1317-73-7-1805", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2099", type = "Journal Article", abstract = "The controversy over the endemicity of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Melanesia has been settled recently by the isolation of genetically distinct, highly divergent sequence variants of HTLV-I from unrelated inhabitants of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Still at issue, however, is the significance of the high frequency of indeterminate HTLV-I Western blots (defined as reactivity to only gag-encoded proteins) among Melanesians. To investigate whether this indeterminate seroreactivity reflects specific reactivity to the Melanesian HTLV-I variants, 27 seroindeterminate Melanesians from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were studied for evidence of HTLV-I infection. Although antibodies against Melanesian variant-specific env gene products and variant-specific env gene sequences were detected by Western blot analysis and polymerase chain reaction, respectively, in all 11 HTLV-I Western blot-positive Melanesians, none of the 27 seroindeterminate Melanesians had such variant-specific antibodies or HTLV-I proviral sequences. In addition, attempts to isolate HTLV-I from seroindeterminate individuals were unsuccessful. These data indicate that HTLV-I infection is not the cause of the indeterminate Western blot reactivity seen in Melanesia.", }