Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 infection of monocytes and microglial cells in primary human cultures

The effects of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) infection in primary cultures of human peripheral blood monocytes and brain-derived microglial cells were investigated. The results showed that these primary brain-derived cells are prone to productive HTLV-1 infection in vitro. Furthermore, HTLV-1 infection induced the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 6. These results suggest that cytokine release constitutes one of the steps in the neuropathology of HTLV-I infection.