RESUMEN
Iranian Tissue Bank prepares a wide range of human tissue homografts such as; Heart valve, Bone, Skin, Amniotic membrane and other tissues for different clinical applications.The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of HTLV in tissue donors from 2001 to 2006 in Iranian Tissue Bank/ Tehran University of Medical Sciences. 1548 tissue donors were studied during a 5-year period by ELISA assays. HTLV1,2 - antibodies were tested on all donors along with other tests upon American Association of Tissue Banks [AATB] standards. 25 [1.61%] out of 1548 tissue donors were HTLV positive. 17 donors were male and 8 donors were female. Female to male ratio was approximately 47%. Regarding the prevalence of HTLV among tissue donors and importance of cell and tissue safety and quality assurance, we recommend that all cell and tissue banks should be involved with serological and other complementary tests such as PCR [Polymerase Chain Reaction] for HTLV