Correlation of spontaneous degranulation and IFN-γ production in CD8⁺ T cells with proviral DNA loads of HTLV-I–infected patients, and HTLV-I viral expression in cultured cells of HAM/TSP patients. (A) Correlation of spontaneous CD107a and IFN-γ expressions in CD8⁺ T cells and proviral DNA loads in total PBMCs (i), isolated CD4⁺ T cells (ii), and isolated CD14⁺ cells (iii) from HTLV-I–infected patients were determined. The data obtained from 5 ACs (○) and 7 HAM/TSP patients (●) are plotted. (B) Expression of intracellular Tax protein in ND CD4⁺ T cells (○) and CD14⁺ cells (△), and CD4⁺ T cells (●) and CD14⁺ cells (▲) of a HAM/TSP patient after the culture. (C) Expression of Tax mRNA in total PBMCs and CD14⁺ cells before and after culture for 5 hours. CD14⁺ cells were magnetically isolated from the cultured PBMCs. The graph was prepared from data obtained from 3 HAM/TSP patients. Error bars represent SD.