1Razavi Cancer Research Center, Razavi Hospital, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran
2Department of Medical Biotechnology, Ashkezar branch Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran
3Department of Medical Genetics, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran
*Corresponding e-mail: massoudh@nigeb.ac.ir
Online published on 19 November, 2018.
Human T-cell Lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) is endemic in Northeast of Iran. Still, it is unclear that genetic background has role in infection by HTLV-1.
We ascertained the frequency of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop region nucleotide changes in 45 HTLV-1 infected individuals and 463 healthy control subjects using Sanger sequencing method.
Out of totally 164 identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among HTLV-1 patients, 89 SNPs found statistically significant in comparison to the control group (P<0.05). In this study, no deletion was identified in mtDNA D-loop region. But, for the first time a high frequency of point mutations was observed in HTLV-1 patients.
Such nucleotide changes in HTLV-1 patients propose that these mutations may result in impaired mitochondria function directly and/or indirectly. Moreover, these variations may act as a predisposing factor along with the environmental factors, and might play an important role in pathogenesis of HTLV-1.
Human T-cell lymphotropic virus, Mitochondrial DNA, Displacement loop, Polymorphism
