Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) can induce a neuroinflammatory condition that leads to myelopathy. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an acute-phase protein that its plasma concentration increases during inflammation. We aimed to determine whether PTX3 serum level is elevated in HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients and HTLV-1 asymptomatic carriers (ACs) and evaluate its association with proviral load and clinical features. The serum level of PTX3 was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 30 HAM patients, 30 HTLV-1 ACs, and 30 healthy controls. Also, the HTLV-1 proviral load was determined via real-time PCR technique. The findings showed that PTX3 serum level was significantly higher in HAM patients than in both asymptomatic carriers and healthy controls (p values < 0.0001). No correlation between PTX3 and the proviral load was observed in HAM patients and asymptomatic carriers (r = − 0.238, p = 0.205 and r = − 0.078, p = 0.681, respectively). The findings showed that there was no significant correlation between PTX3 and motor disability grading (MDG) (r = − 0.155, p = 0.41) nor urinary disturbance score (UDS) (r = − 0.238, p = 0.20). Higher levels of PTX3 are associated with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy compared to asymptomatic carriers. This finding may support the idea that PTX3 has the potential as a diagnostic biomarker.

人类 T 细胞嗜淋巴细胞病毒 1 型 (HTLV-1) 可诱发神经炎症，从而导致脊髓病。Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) 是一种急性时相蛋白，其血浆浓度在炎症过程中增加。我们的目的是确定 HTLV-1 相关脊髓病/热带痉挛性截瘫 (HAM/TSP) 患者和 HTLV-1 无症状携带者 (AC) 中 PTX3 血清水平是否升高，并评估其与前病毒载量和临床特征的关联。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法测量了 30 名 HAM 患者、30 名 HTLV-1 AC 和 30 名健康对照者的血清 PTX3 水平。此外，HTLV-1 前病毒载量通过实时 PCR 技术测定。研究结果表明，HAM 患者的 PTX3 血清水平显着高于无症状携带者和健康对照（p值 < 0.0001）。在 HAM 患者和无症状携带者中未观察到 PTX3 与前病毒载量之间存在相关性（分别为r  = − 0.238，p  = 0.205 和r  = − 0.078，p  = 0.681）。研究结果表明，PTX3 与运动障碍分级 (MDG) ( r  = − 0.155，p  = 0.41) 和排尿障碍评分 (UDS) ( r  = − 0.238，p  = 0.20)之间均不存在显着相关性。与无症状携带者相比，较高水平的 PTX3 与 HTLV-1 相关脊髓病相关。这一发现可能支持 PTX3 有潜力作为诊断生物标志物的观点。