PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - H Ogasawara
AU  - T Naito
AU  - H Kaneko
AU  - T Hishikawa
AU  - I Sekigawa
AU  - H Hashimoto
AU  - Y Kaneko
AU  - N Yamamoto
AU  - N Maruyama
AU  - N Yamamoto
TI  - Quantitative analyses of messenger RNA of human endogenous retrovirus in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
DP  - 2001 Mar 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 533--538
VI  - 28
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/28/3/533.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/28/3/533.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2001 Mar 01; 28
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) has emerged as a possible causative agent of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To investigate the role of HERV in the etiology of SLE, we performed quantitative analyses of messenger RNA (mRNA) of the HERV clone 4-1 in patients with SLE. METHODS: Reverse transcriptase (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR; TaqMan methodology) were used in this experiment. RESULTS: The quantities of mRNA of the HERV clone 4-1 gag region in patients with SLE were significantly higher than in healthy controls, and the amounts of such mRNA in the patients were decreased by steroid treatment. CONCLUSION: These phenomena may be related to the production of viral components derived from HERV clone 4-1 and contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE; studies using a larger number of patients are required to confirm these points.