A Mouse Herpesvirus Induces Relapse of Experimental Autoimmune Arthritis by Infection of the Inflammatory Target Tissue
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: It is not known what is required for successive relapses in autoimmune diseases or evolution to a progressive chronic disease. Autoimmune arthritis caused by passive transfer of autoantibodies against glucose 6-phosphate isomerase is transient and therefore lends itself well to test for what might extend the disease. Herpesviruses have long been suspected of contributing to human autoimmune disease. We infected mice with a murine gamma-herpesvirus (MHV-68). In immunodeficient mice, transient arthritis was followed by a relapse. This was due to lytic viral infection of synovial tissues demonstrated by PCR, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. Latent infection could be reactivated in the synovium of normal mice when treated with Cytoxan and this was associated with increased clinical arthritis. We conclude that herpesviruses may play an ancillary pathogenic role in autoimmune arthritis by infection of the inflammatory target tissue.
Source: The Journal of Immunology
Institutions: Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Rheumatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1479712964