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. 2019 Apr 16:7:2050312119843706.
doi: 10.1177/2050312119843706. eCollection 2019.

Prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 in Nigeria's capital territory and meta-analysis of Nigerian studies

Nneoma Confidence JeanStephanie Anyanwu  1   2 , Elijah Ekah Ella  1 , Maryam Aminu  1 , Maleeha Azam  2 , Muhammad Ajmal  2 , Haruna Makonjuola Kazeem  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 in Nigeria's capital territory and meta-analysis of Nigerian studies

Nneoma Confidence JeanStephanie Anyanwu et al. SAGE Open Med. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study was aimed at determining human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 prevalence among apparently healthy, immunocompromised and haematologic malignant individuals in Nigeria's capital, as well as meta-analysis of all Nigerian studies until date.

Methods: A total of 200 participants were recruited into a cross-sectional study. In total, 1 mL each of sera and plasma were obtained from 5 mL blood of each participant and analysed for antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; positive samples confirmed with qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, followed by statistical and meta-analysis. Sociodemographic characteristics and possible risk factors were assessed via questionnaires.

Results: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay yielded 1% prevalence which was confirmed to be zero via polymerase chain reaction. A total of 119 (59.5%) of the participants were male, while the mean age was 35.28 ± 13.61 years. Apart from sex and blood reception/donation, there was generally a low rate of exposure to human T-lymphotropic virus-associated risk factors. Meta-analysis revealed pooled prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1 and 2 to be 3% and 0%, respectively, from Nigerian studies.

Conclusion: This study discovered zero prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 from five major hospitals in Nigeria's capital, exposing the importance of confirmatory assays after positive antibody detection assay results. Meta-analysis highlighted the existence of very few reliable Nigerian studies compared to the demography of the nation. Large-scale epidemiological studies and routine screening of risk populations are therefore needed since Nigeria lies in the region of endemicity.

Keywords: HTLV; blood donors; haematologic malignancies; leukaemia; lymphoma; lymphoproliferative disorders.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow chart of study selection.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Forest plot showing prevalence of HTLV-1 in different geopolitical zones of Nigeria. SW: South West; NC: North Central; SE: South East; NE: North East.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Funnel plot showing bias between HTLV-1 studies.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Funnel plot of risk differences between HTLV-1 and -2 studies. RD: risk difference; SE: standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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