Kinetics of Tax-, Gag-, and HBZ-mRNA expressions in short-term cultures of CD4⁺ T cells from HTLV-1 asymptomatic carriers and HAM/TSP patients. Tax- (■, solid line), Gag- (▴, dotted line), and HBZ-mRNA (♦, solid line) in ex vivo cultured lymphocytes from AC (A) or HAM/TSP (B) patients were quantified (as described under “Methods”). The medians (and first quartiles) expressed in arbitrary units (AU) for 8 AC and 10 HAM/TSP patients are shown.