Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification demonstrates the absence of human T-cell lymphotrophic virus (HTLV)-I specific pol sequences in peripheral T-cell lymphomas.

HTLV-I seronegative patients in nonendemic areas have been described with T-cell proliferations the DNA of which contains specific HTLV-I viral sequences. We have looked for the presence of HTLV-I DNA sequences in 27 HTLV-I seronegative patients with peripheral T-cell lymphomas, distinct from adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), and four HTLV-I seropositive patients, three with an ATL and one with a tropical spastic paraparesis. Using HTLV-I pol specific primers, the genomic DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and lymph nodes massively infiltrated by tumor cells was analyzed by the enzymatic gene amplification procedure. In contrast to the peripheral blood lymphocytes from the four HTLV-I seropositive patients, the peripheral T-cell lymphoma samples did not harbor HTLV-I pol sequences. The data show that the detection of HTLV-I nucleotide sequences by the polymerase chain reaction correlates with serologic analysis in this series.