RESEARCH - Human endogenous retrovirus involved in the pathogenesis of RA?

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Human endogenous retrovirus involved in the pathogenesis of RA?

Human endogenous retrovirus K10 is associated with rheumatoid arthritis,

British scientists found out. In the May issue of ls of the Rheumatic

Diseases they conclude, that " this could contribute to the pathogenesis of

rheumatoid arthritis. "

Approximately eight percent of the human genome is derived from human

endogenous retrovirus, which is transmitted vertically through the germline,

Hora Davari Ejtehadi from the University of Wolverhampton reports. However,

there are only few published surveys in which direct molecular approaches

were used to detect and quantify the presence of human endogenous retrovirus

mRNA in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared with control subjects.

Thus, the researchers extracted total RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear

cells of 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 17 with osteoarthritis and

27 healthy individuals. They analysed the RNA using a novel multiplex

reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction system. Results: Patients

with rheumatoid arthritis showed a significantly higher level of human

endogenous retrovirus K10 mRNA expression than patients with osteoarthritis

or the healthy controls. Ejtehadi speculates, that host cells with activated

human endogenous retrovirus may migrate to the synovium, where they release

pro-inflammatory cytokines. JG

Ann Rheum Dis (2006); 65: 612-6

http://ard.bmjjournals.com

http://www.kineret-eu.com/en/pro/news/news100.jsp

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