Inflammatory and HTLV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell lymphocytes, both infiltrated and clonally expanded, can be found in the spinal cord sections (4) and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) of HAM/TSP postmortem samples (5), suggesting a CSF-compartmentalized antigen-driven immune response (presumably HTLV-1 specific) at later stages of the disease. Here, CD8A is linked to tropical spastic paraparesis.