Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2006 May;65(5):612-6.
doi: 10.1136/ard.2004.031146. Epub 2005 Sep 28.

The potential role of human endogenous retrovirus K10 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis: a preliminary study

H D Ejtehadi  1 , G L Freimanis, H A Ali, S Bowman, A Alavi, J Axford, R Callaghan, P N Nelson
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

The potential role of human endogenous retrovirus K10 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis: a preliminary study

H D Ejtehadi et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2006 May.

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether human endogenous retrovirus K10 is associated with autoimmune rheumatic disease.

Design: A novel multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) system was developed to investigate HERV-K10 mRNA expression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 17 with osteoarthritis, and 27 healthy individuals were recruited and total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and analysed using multiplex RT-PCR for the level of HERV-K10 gag mRNA expression. Southern blot and DNA sequencing confirmed the authenticity of the PCR products.

Results: Using the histidyl tRNA synthetase (HtRNAS) gene as a housekeeping gene in the optimised multiplex RT-PCR, a significantly higher level of HERV-K10 gag mRNA expression was found in rheumatoid arthritis than in osteoarthritis (p = 0.01) or in the healthy controls (p = 0.02).

Conclusion: There is enhanced mRNA expression of the HERV-K10 gag region in rheumatoid arthritis compared with osteoarthritis or healthy controls. This could contribute to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Nelson P N. Retroviruses in rheumatoid diseases. Ann Rheum Dis 199554441–442. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Urnovitz H B, Murphy W H. Human endogenous retroviruses: nature, occurrence, and clinical implications in human disease. Clin Microbiol Rev 1996972–99. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lower R. The pathogenic potential of endogenous retroviruses: facts and fantasies. Trends Microbiol 19997350–356. - PubMed
    1. Nelson P N, Carnegie P R, Martin J, Davari Ejtehadi H, Hooley P, Roden D.et al Demystified. Human endogenous retroviruses. Mol Pathol 20035611–18. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gifford R, Tristem M. The evolution, distribution and diversity of endogenous retroviruses. Virus Genes 200326291–315. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms