High prevalence of an IgG response against murine leukemia virus (MLV) in patients with psoriasis.
Increasing evidence suggests that human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) could participate in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and lupus erythematosus. To assess a possible association of murine leukemia virus (MLV)-like group of HERVs with psoriasis we searched for antibodies against MLV proteins in the sera of patients. We showed that anti-MLV antibodies (total) were detected in both psoriatic and control sera. However, they were detected with a higher frequency in psoriasis when compared with controls (91 vs. 53%, respectively, P=0.001). In addition, the IgG response was dramatically increased in psoriasis (86 vs. 8%, respectively, P<0.0001). This immunoreactivity was observed against the products of both the gag and env genes, and the most antigenic proteins were the gp65-70. Moreover, we observed that anti-p30 MLV antibodies reacted with an epidermal protein with a molecular weight of 50 kDa in protein extracts from both normal and psoriatic skin cultures. These observations suggest that HERVs of the MLV-like group could contribute to the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis.
Molès
Jean-Pierre
JP
Laboratoire de Dermatologie Moléculaire, Institut Universitaire de Recherche Clinique, 641 avenue du Doyen G. Giraud, 34 093 Montpellier, cedex 5, France. jpm@iurc.montp.inserm.fr
Hadi
Jean-Christophe
JC
Guilhou
Jean-Jacques
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D003429:Cross Reactions; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004817:Epidermis / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000276:immunology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins