Human retrovirus‐5 proviral DNA is rarely detected in salivary gland biopsy tissues from patients with Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract

Objective. To examine whether human retrovirus4 (HRV-5) infection is associated with Sjogren's syndrome.Methods. Salivary gland DNA was tested by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HRV-5 proviral DNA. Rigorous precautions were taken to prevent false-positive results from PCR contamination. Positive samples were confirmed by testing with an additional independent set of primers and were then sequenced.Results. Ninety-two samples were examined (55 from Sjogren's syndrome patients, 37 from non-Sjogren's syndrome patients), 2 of which were positive. One was from a patient who had sicca symptoms but who did not satisfy the criteria for a diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome. The other was from a patient with secondary Sjogren's syndrome. Owing to the extremely low virus load in minor salivary glands, the number of HRV-5-infected patients may be underestimated. In total, 3 different sequences of HRV-5 were identified which were 98% identical to the original sequence but which displayed variations between and within individuals.Conclusion. This is the first study to systematically seek a disease association with HRV-5, although with this method, an association with Sjogren's syndrome was not identified.The etiology of primary Sjogren's syndrome is unknown, but a number of studies have suggested that

Human RNA “Rumor” Viruses: the Search for Novel Human Retroviruses in Chronic Disease

“…Southern blot and PCR analyses revealed that this virus was not endogenous in human DNA (189). Indeed, in samples in which it was detected, the proviral DNA was present at an extremely low load (around 1 copy in 100,000 cells) (189,415). This viral sequence was later given the provisional name human retrovirus 5 (HRV-5), as it appeared to be the fifth exogenous human retrovirus.…”

“…72,2008 CANDIDATE NOVEL RETROVIRUSES IN HUMAN DISEASE 175 ent individuals, which raised serious questions regarding the transmissibility of this putative virus. With regard to disease association, HRV-5 RNA was originally detected in salivary gland biopsies from patients with SS, but proviral DNA could only rarely be detected in such tissue (63,415). A wider survey of other inflammatory diseases detected HRV-5 DNA in blood samples from 12% of patients with RA and 16% of patients with SLE (188).…”

Retroviruses and Autoimmunity.

“…Chromosomell is known to contain a break point, which is initiated by several activators including X-rays (56,57). This is also interesting in view of the potential role of environmental factors in the induction of SLE, because endogenous retroviruses may be activated by various stimuli such as X-rays, ultraviolet light, chemical agents, bacteria and other microorganisms, hormones, and cytokines (3,63,64).…”

Lack of detection of human retrovirus‐5 proviral DNA in synovial tissue and blood specimens from individuals with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis

“…However, HRV-5 proviral DNA was identified in only 2 of 92 salivary gland tissues (55 from patients with Sjö gren's syndrome and 37 from patients with nonSjö gren's syndrome) (2). One of the positive salivary gland tissues was from a patient who had sicca symptoms but did not satisfy the criteria for diagnosis of Sjö gren's syndrome (2). The other was from a patient with secondary Sjö gren's syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (2).…”

“…One of the positive salivary gland tissues was from a patient who had sicca symptoms but did not satisfy the criteria for diagnosis of Sjö gren's syndrome (2). The other was from a patient with secondary Sjö gren's syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (2). Although an association of HRV-5 with Sjö gren's syndrome was not identified, the finding of HRV-5 in a patient with RA raised the question of an association of HRV-5 with RA.…”