Adult T-cell leukemia virus (ATLV) or ATLV-associated antigen (ATLA)-positive cell clones were isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes of all five anti-ATLA-seropositive healthy adults tested by a limiting-dilution culture method in the presence of T-cell growth factor (TCGF) but from none of six seronegative adults similarly tested. Although ATLA-positive cells were not always detected in mass cultures of the seropositive lym-' phocytes, they were found consistently in T-cell cloned cultures of those lymphocytes. Continuous cultures of the ATLA-positive clones obtained were dependent on TCGF. Five clones derived from each of the five donors were maintained for >4 months and, during culture, all of them acquired the ability to grow without added TCGF. The ATLA-positive clones formed rosettes with erythrocytes and expressed Leu 1, Leu 3a, and Leu 4 antigens but not Leu 2a antigen. These results indicate that anti-ATLA-seropositive healthy individuals carry ATLV in T cells circulating in their peripheral blood.The human leukemia adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) has been recognized to be endemic in restricted areas of Japan (1-3). Recently, ATL virus (ATLV) was detected in ATL-derived human T-cell lines (4, 5) and characterized as a retrovirus (6), and a close relationship between ATL and ATLV was suggested by serologic and biochemical analyses. In these studies, antibodies to antigens associated.with ATLV-producer cell lines (ATLA), which were proved to be specific for ATLV (ref. 6

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Urine levels of neuron-specific enolase were determined in 3 neuroblastoma patients (1 in an advanced state and 2 in remission), 25 control children, 37 control adults and 4 children with hematuria by means of the double-antibody inhibition radioimmunoassay specific to the y subunit of enolase isozymes. The levels of neuron-specific enolase mean +S.D. ng/ creatinine mg in an advanced neuroblastoma patient were elevated (1.25±0.29 before or after treatment and range 1.61-74.2 during treatment) when compared with those of control subjects (0.51+0.26 in children and 0.36+0.17 in adults). The levels in 2 neuroblastoma patients in remission were within normal range. Urine samples with hematuria were not used for the assay.neuroblastoma ; urine ; neuron-specific enolase Neuron-specific enolase (NSE), primarily found in tissue of the central nervous system, has been shown to be contained in the neuroendocrine cells and neuroendocrine tumors (Tapia et al. 1981). It has been reported that serum NSE level was closely related to the clinical response to the therapies of these patients (Ishiguro et al. 1983). In this report, we describe the results of urine NSE (ng/creatinine (Cr) mg) assays in healthy children, healthy adults and two neuroblastoma patients in remission, and those of serial measurements of urine NSE (ng/Cr mg) levels in an advanced neuroblastoma patient by the double-antibody radioimmunoassay (RIA) method.Control samples consisted of urines from 25 children and 37 adults. The patient 1, 2 and 3 were a 2 year-7 month old male with neuroblastoma, a 1 month old female with neuroblastoma and a 1 year-4 month old male with ganglio-neuroblastoma, respectively. Initial levels of serum NSE (ng/ml) in patient 1, 2 and 3 were 128.0, 51.0 and 35.5, respectively. In patient 1, serum NSE levels fell temporarily to nearly normal levels as the patients responded to chemotherapy and radiation but the serum NSE levels increased again as his condition deteriorated. Then collections of urine for measurements of NSE started. In patient 2 and 3, high serum NSE levels returned to normal levels after intensive treatments. During the remission period, urine samplings were done.The samples were collected as soon as possible after the passage of urine, added with 50% glycerol in the final 10% glycerol concentration, and then stored at -4°C until assayed. All of the samples were processed within 1 week. The urine samples were analyzed for the levels of NSE and Cr by a RIA method (NSE kit, Eiken Immunochemical Laboratory,

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