Turning a blind eye: HTLV-1-associated uveitis in Indigenous adults from Central Australia.

PURPOSE: We describe the first two cases of HTLV-1 associated uveitis to be associated with HTLV-1c subtype infection. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: Uveitis was demonstrated in two Indigenous Australian men, both of whom had high HTLV-1c proviral loads in peripheral blood. Visual outcomes were poor in each case. CONCLUSION: Clinicians should be aware of HTLV-1c infection as a cause of uveitis in Australia, and HTLV-1 serology should be included in the basic uveitis work-up in HTLV-1-endemic areas.

Clinical Features and Diagnosis of Anterior Segment Inflammation Related to Cytomegalovirus in Immunocompetent African, Asian, and Caucasian Patients.

Objective: To report the clinical features and treatment outcomes in immunocompetent patients with anterior segment inflammation (ASI) related to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) depending on their ethnic origin.Material and Methods: Multicenter retrospective study of 38 patients with at least one test, either HCMV-positive PCR or GWc.Results: Features of Posner-Schlossman syndrome were observed in 50% of the eyes, Fuchs heterochromic iridocyclitis in 13% of the eyes, chronic nonspecific anterior uveitis in 21% of the eyes, and corneal endotheliitis in 18% of the eyes. PCR and GWc were positive for HCMV in 50% and 96.2% of the eyes, respectively. Glaucoma was diagnosed in 50% of eyes. Treatment was oral valganciclovir in about half of the patients. Other treatments were intravenous ganciclovir and/or ganciclovir topical ointment and/or intravitreal ganciclovir.Conclusions: No obvious association of specific clinical features with individual ethnicity could be identified. We found a high rate of glaucoma in all ethnic groups. There was a delay in diagnosis and specific treatment of HCMV in most patients.

Choroidal Thickness in Patients Diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection: Results from Two Populations of Different Ethnicities.

Purpose: To measure the choroidal thickness among subjects with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection from two diverse ethnic populations and to compare it with healthy controls. Methods: Subjects with HIV infection and healthy controls were enrolled in two referring centers in Italy and India. Clinical data were collected. All subjects underwent enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography and measurement of choroidal thickness. Results: A total of 68 eyes from 68 patients with HIV (44 Caucasian, 24 Indians) and 60 eyes from 60 healthy volunteers (36 Caucasian, 24 Indians) were included. Mean choroidal thickness was significantly higher in HIV patients compared to controls (312.91 ± 65 µm vs. 266.57 ± 47 µm; p < 0.001). Choroidal thickness was higher among subjects with HIV-related retinopathy compared to HIV without retinopathy (285 ± 30 µm vs. 352 ± 17 µm; p < 0.01). Conclusions: Patients with HIV infection, especially with HIV microangiopathy, have thicker choroid compared to age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects. These changes may be related to HIV-associated choroidal vascular dysfunction.

Analysis of HLA class I and class II gene polymorphisms in Japanese patients with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1-associated uveitis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the immunogenetic background of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated uveitis (HAU) that presents immune-mediated reactive changes in the uvea. METHODS: HLA class I and class II genes were studied in 51 patients with HAU, 192 asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers, and 266 HTLV-1-seronegative controls using a high-resolution method of HLA DNA typing. The HLA alleles of HAU were compared with those of HTLV-1 carriers and healthy controls. RESULTS: We identified 62 distinct alleles of HLA-A, HLA-Cw, and HLA-B and 49 distinct alleles of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 in patients with HAU, asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers, and healthy controls. The relative frequencies of these HLA alleles did not differ among the three groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that HLA class I and class II genes do not contribute to susceptibility to HAU.

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I-associated uveitis in an African American.

PURPOSE/METHODS: In an African American woman with the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I associated with uveitis, clinical and ocular findings were correlated with detection of viral genome by polymerase chain reaction, and by viral antigen detection in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: High levels of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I gene expression in multiple samples over a two-year period strongly support the diagnosis of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I uveitis. Systemic corticosteroid therapy resulted in partial remission.

New corneal findings in human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 infection.

PURPOSE: Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 is a RNA retrovirus that primarily affects CD4+ T-cells. Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 infection is the established cause of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, an aggressive malignancy of CD4+ T-cells, and two nonneoplastic conditions: human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis and human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 uveitis. Other reported ophthalmic manifestations of human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 infection include lymphomatous and leukemic infiltrates in the eye and ocular adnexa in patients with adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, retinal pigmentary degeneration, and neuro-ophthalmic disorders in patients with human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis and keratoconjunctivitis sicca, episcleritis, and sclerouveitis in asymptomatic human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 carriers. This report describes the ocular findings in three Jamaican patients with human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 infection and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. METHODS: The clinical records of three patients with human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 infection and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma examined at the National Eye Institute were reviewed. Each patient had one or more complete ophthalmic evaluations. RESULTS: All three patients had corneal abnormalities, including corneal haze and central opacities with thinning; bilateral immunoprotein keratopathy; and peripheral corneal thinning, scarring, and neovascularization. All three patients had elevated serum immunoglobulin levels. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that the novel corneal findings in these patients are most likely a consequence of the hypergammaglobulinemia induced by the human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 infection or the T-cell malignancy.

Prevalence and viral load of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) in pterygia in multi-ethnic patients in the Malay Peninsula.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in primary and recurrent pterygia samples collected from different ethnic groups in the equatorial Malay Peninsula. METHODS: DNA was extracted from 45 specimens of freshly obtained primary and recurrent pterygia from patients and from 11 normal conjunctival swabs from volunteers with no ocular surface lesion as control. The presence of HPV DNA was detected by nested PCR. PCR-positive samples were subjected to DNA sequencing to determine the HPV genotypes. Real-time PCR with HPV16 and HPV18 type-specific TaqMan probes was employed to determine the viral DNA copy number. RESULTS: Of 45 pterygia samples with acceptable DNA quality, 29 (64.4%) were positive for HPV DNA, whereas all the normal conjunctiva swabs were HPV negative. Type 18 was the most prevalent (41.4% of positive samples) genotype followed by type 16 (27.6%). There was one case each of the less common HPV58 and HPV59. Seven of the samples harboured mixed infections of both HPV16 and HPV18. All the four known recurrent pterygia samples were HPV-positive, whereas the sole early-stage pterygium sample in the study was HPV-negative. There was no significant association between HPV-positive status with gender or age. A high proportion of patients from the Indian ethnic group (five of six) were HPV-positive, whereas the Malay patients were found to have higher HPV positivity than the Chinese. The viral load of HPV18 samples ranged between 2 × 10(2) and 3 × 10(4) copies per µg, whereas the viral load of HPV16 specimen was 4 × 10(1) to 10(2) copies per µg. CONCLUSION: This report describes for the first time the quantitative measurement of HPV viral DNA for pterygium samples. The high prevalence of oncogenic HPVs in our samples suggests a possible role for HPV in the pathogenesis of pterygia. Moreover, the relatively low HPV viral load is concordant with the premalignant nature of this ocular condition.

Prevalence of ocular manifestations of HIV/AIDS in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era: a different spectrum in Central South China.

PURPOSE: To investigate ocular manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in a population in central south China during a time of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). METHODS: A cross-sectional study in central south China was performed between June 2009 and April 2010. Ocular examinations were performed on recruited patients with HIV/AIDS. Systemic information (including CD4+ T cell count) was also collected where possible. RESULTS: Among 1041 patients (2082 eyes) with HIV/AIDS enrolled in our study, we found a broad spectrum of ocular manifestations related to HIV/AIDS. The prevalence of HIV-associated ocular disease was 23.73% (247 patients). Of those with ocular complications, 87.85% had CD4 counts <200 cells/µL. HIV retinopathy (12.68%) was the most common HIV-associated ocular finding, followed by cytomegalovirus retinitis (6.72%). Prevalences of visual impairment and blindness were 7.59% and 0.77%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This epidemiologic study shows the spectrum of ocular lesions associated with HIV/AIDS in central south China. Our findings highlight the need for routine ophthalmic examinations in this population, even in patients who are asymptomatic, especially those at high risk, in the era of HAART.