Gene expression study of host-human T-cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) interactions: adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL)

Background In HTLV-1-associated malignant disease, adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL), the interaction of virus and host was evaluated at the chemokines gene expression level. Also, IL-1β and Caspase-1 expressions were evaluated to investigate the importance of pyroptosis in disease development and progression. Methods and results The expression of host CCR6 and CXCR-3 and the HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL), Tax , and HBZ were assessed in 17 HTLV-1 asymptomatic carriers (ACs) and 12 ATLL patients using the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), TaqMan method. Moreover, RT-qPCR, SYBR Green assay were performed to measure Caspase-1 and IL-1β expression. HTLV-1- Tax did not express in 91.5% of the ATLLs, while HBZ was expressed in all ATLLs. The expression of CXCR3 dramatically decreased in ATLLs compared to ACs ( p = 0.001). The expression of CCR6 was lower in ATLLs than ACs ( p = 0.04). The mean of PVL in ATLL patients was statistically higher than ACs ( p = 0.001). Furthermore, the expression of the IL-1β between ATLLs and ACs was not statistically significant ( p = 0.4). In contrast, there was a meaningful difference between Caspase-1 in ATLLs and ACs ( p = 0.02). Conclusions The present study indicated that in the first stage of ATLL malignancy toward acute lymphomatous, CXCR3 and its progression phase may target the pyroptosis process. Mainly, HBZ expression could be a novel therapeutic target.