Characterization of T cells transmigrating through human endothelial cells in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy.

We investigated the surface markers as well as the expression of beta 2-integrin (LFA-1 beta/CD 18), in T cells migrating through human umbilical vein endothelial cells (EC) in patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM). No significant differences were found in the percentages of both HLA-DR+ T cells and total CD4+ cells and in the expression of beta 2-integrin between the EC-transmigrated and the EC adherent T cells. However, the percentages of HLA-DR+CD4+ cells in the transmigrated cells were significantly higher than those in the adherent cells. These results suggest that activated or HLA-DR+CD4+ T cells play an important role as the first trigger in the immunopathogenesis of HAM.