No detection of HTLV-I DNA in punch skin biopsies from patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma by the polymerase chain reaction.

In this study we have tried to take advantage of the high genetic homology between conserved regions of human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II, hoping that a possible retrovirus in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) would have regions with homology to types I/II. DNA was extracted from punch skin biopsies from 21 patients and subjected to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using primer sets designed to match conserved regions in the HTLV-I/II genome. The PCR products were subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis with subsequent Southern blotting and hybridization to an HTLV-I probe. No bands of exogenous origin were seen on the agarose gel or by hybridization. If a retrovirus is present in the skin in CTCL patients, it is either not related to HTLV-I/II, present at a copy number below the PCR detection limit, or has been cleared from the skin before the clinical symptoms appear.