Correction: Netto et al. Hypovitaminosis D Is Associated with Higher Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and with HAM/TSP in HTLV-Infected Patients. Viruses 2021, 13, 2223.

In the original publication [...].

Hypovitaminosis D Is Associated with Higher Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and with HAM/TSP in HTLV-Infected Patients.

Recent studies have shown the effects of vitamin D on host response to infectious diseases. Some studies detected a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in HIV-infected patients, but scarce information exists for HTLV-1 infection. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the frequency of hypovitaminosis D in HTLV-1 patients and its relationship with their immune response in HTLV-infected patients and in age- and gender-matched controls at a Brazilian rehabilitation hospital. We compared vitamin D, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumoral necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels across groups. Logistic regression was utilized to assess the association between hypovitaminosis D and cytokine levels. We enrolled 161 HTLV-infected subjects (129 HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients, 32 asymptomatic HTLV carriers) and equal number of HTLV-negative controls. We observed a significantly higher prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients with HAM/TSP than in HTLV asymptomatic carriers (p < 0.001), or controls (p < 0.001). HAM/TSP patients also had higher levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ than asymptomatic carriers. Patients with HAM/TSP and hypovitaminosis D had higher levels of TNF-α than asymptomatic HTLV carriers. These findings suggest hypovitaminosis D plays a role in HAM/TSP pathogenesis, and it needs to be evaluated in further studies.

Characteristics of Chronic Pain and Its Impact on Quality of Life of Patients With HTLV-1-associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP).

OBJECTIVES: we describe the prevalence of chronic pain and their characteristics in 43 consecutive patients presenting with human T-lymphotropic virus Type I (HTLV-1) associated myelopathy (HAM) /tropical spastic paraparesis in Salvador, Brazil. METHODS: in this cross-sectional study, we included 43 consecutive patients with HAM/TSP from Sarah Salvador Unit of the Rehabilitation, in Bahia, Brazil. They were evaluated from September 2007 to July 2008. We used the following scales: Functional disability scales (EDSS, OSAME e HOFFER); visual analogue scale; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; McGill Pain Questionnaire; DN4 Questionnaire and SF-36 Quality-of-Life Questionnaire. RESULTS: chronic pain was highly prevalent (38 patients---88.4%) in this population. We detected an inverse correlation between duration of the disease and the likelihood of patients to present with chronic pain (P<0.05). Individuals with greater neurologic deficits had much more neuropathic, whereas those with lower motor deficit had mainly the characteristics of nociceptive pain (P<0.05). A positive correlation was observed between the score of the dominant pain or the additional pain, and the number of pain descriptors (P<0.05 for both evaluations). The patients with chronic pain had worst Quality-of-Life scores (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: chronic pain was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of signs/symptoms of anxiety and depression, reflecting a negative impact of pain on patients´ quality of life.