title: Increased immunoreactivity against human cytomegalovirus UL83 in systemic sclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study immunoreactivity against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), since HCMV has been put forward as a candidate infectious cause.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty four patients with SSc (67 females; median age 60 years, range 25-81), 30 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) (23 females; median age 44, range 20-69 years) and 28 healthy controls (NCs), all pre-tested positive for IgG anti-HCMV antibodies, were studied. IgG anti-UL83 HCMV antibodies were tested by western immunoblotting and expressed in arbitrary units (AUs). Reactivity to UL83 HCMV was assessed in relation to clinical manifestations and SSc-related autoantibodies (autoAbs), tested by an IgG SSc autoantibody profile line immunoassay (Euroimmun) that detects autoAbs against Scl-70, CENPA, CENPB, RNA polymerase III subunit 11 (RP11), RP155, fibrillarin, NOR90, Th/To, PM-Scl100, PM-Scl75, Ku, PDGFR and Ro-52.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty patients (59.5%) were anti-UL83 clear positive (UL83+), including 21/40 (52.5%) lcSSc and 29/44 (65.6%) dcSSc, compared to 15/30 (50%) patients with MS (SSc vs MS, p=ns and 11/28 (39.29%) of NCs (SSc vs NC, p=ns MS vs NC, p=ns). Anti-UL83 antibody AU levels (mean±SD) were higher in SSc (64.3 ± 26) compared to MS (49.1±21.6, p=0.05) or NCs (40.4±13.7, p<0.001; MS vs NCs, p=ns) and were associated with pulmonary fibrosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immunoreactivity to UL83 HCMV is frequent and strong in patients with SSc, implying a possible pathogenic role for this disease.
authors.affiliation: Dept. Rheumatology & Clin. Immunol., School Health Sciences, Univ.of Thessaly, Larissa; and Cellular Immunotherapy & Molecular Immunodiagnostics, Biomedical Section, Ctre for Res. & Technology-Hellas (CERTH)- Inst. Research & Technology-Thessaly, Greece.
authors.forename: Emmanouela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marou
authors.affiliation: Dept. Rheumatology & Clin. Immunol., School Health Sciences, Univ.of Thessaly, Larissa; and Cellular Immunotherapy & Molecular Immunodiagnostics, Biomedical Section, Ctre for Res. & Technology-Hellas (CERTH)- Inst. Research & Technology-Thessaly, Greece.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liaskos
authors.affiliation: Dept. Rheumatology & Clin. Immunol., School Health Sciences, Univ.of Thessaly, Larissa; and Cellular Immunotherapy & Molecular Immunodiagnostics, Biomedical Section, Ctre for Res. & Technology-Hellas (CERTH)- Inst. Research & Technology-Thessaly, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Efthymiou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University General Hospital of Larissa, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Efthymios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dardiotis
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, University General Hospital of Larissa, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daponte
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Euroimmun, Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scheper
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Euroimmun, Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University General Hospital of Larissa, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hadjigeorgiou
authors.affiliation: Dept. Rheumatology & Clin. Immunol., School Health Sciences, Univ.of Thessaly, Larissa; and Cellular Immunotherapy & Molecular Immunodiagnostics, Biomedical Section, Ctre for Res. & Technology-Hellas (CERTH)- Inst. Research & Technology-Thessaly, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bogdanos
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. lsakkas@med.uth.gr.
authors.forename: Lazaros I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Sakkas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; C065418:cytomegalovirus matrix protein 65kDa