RESUMO
Introduction: To recognize the predisposing factors in tuberculosis as an endemic infection in Northeast province of Iran, this study was aimed to evaluate whether HumanT-lymphocyte type 1 [HTLV-I] as an immunosuppressive factor increases the risk of tuberculosis
Materials and Methods: A Case-control study was conducted in 278 tuberculosis patients from 2007 to 2010, in Mashhad, Iran. Tuberculosis has been diagnosed by gold standard tests like sputum culture, bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] culture or cytology. For detection of HTLV-I antibody, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay method and western Blot as the confirming test were performed. Then 276 healthy cases were matched for gender and age
Results: The mean age of tuberculosis patients was 49.67 +/- 21.36 years and for control cases was 48.36 +/- 20.74. In patients group, 114 [41.6%] were male, 160 [58.4%] were female and in controls 123 [44.6%] were male and 153 [55.4%] were female. Pulmonary tuberculosis was presented in 84.2% of the patients. The frequency of HTLV-1 was 2.9% and 3.3% in patients and controls, respectively. HTLV-I frequency was higher in male patients and it increased by age
Conclusion: Regarding to this study, HTLV-I infection is not stand-alone sufficient for increasing the risk of tuberculosis