In Southern Japan, possession of the HLA-class I genes HLA-A*02 and Cw*08 was associated with a statistically significant reduction in both HTLV-1 PVL and the risk of HAM/TSP, whereas possession of HLA-class I HLA-B*5401 and class II HLA-DRB1*0101 predisposes to HAM/TSP in the same population (Table 2) [37, 41]. Here, HLA-A is linked to tropical spastic paraparesis.