Document 0354
 DOCN  M9460354
 TI    Absence of lentiviral and human T cell leukemia viral sequences in
       patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
 DT    9404
 AU    di Giovine FS; Bailly S; Bootman J; Almond N; Duff GW; University of
       Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, UK.
 SO    Arthritis Rheum. 1994 Mar;37(3):349-58. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       GENBANK/X04500
 AB    OBJECTIVE. The etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unknown, and the
       possibility that an infectious agent is involved has not been excluded.
       Lentiviruses can cause chronic arthritis in humans and in animals and
       have been suggested as candidate agents in RA. We therefore tested for
       the presence of lentiviruses and also for human T cell leukemia virus
       type I (HTLV-I)/HTLV-II in cells from patients with RA. METHODS. We used
       the polymerase chain reaction with degenerate primers designed to
       recognize highly conserved nucleotide sequences from 5 different
       pathogenic lentiviruses. This method allowed the detection of at least 1
       infected cell/20,000 uninfected cells in control experiments. RESULTS.
       Testing of synovial cells and blood cells from patients with early RA
       and patients with established RA did not yield any specific viral
       product. CONCLUSION: Our results do not support the presence of
       lentiviruses or HTLV-like sequences in RA.
 DE    Adult  Aged  Aged, 80 and over  Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*MICROBIOLOGY
       Base Sequence  DNA, Viral/*ANALYSIS  Female  Human  HTLV-I/*GENETICS
       HTLV-II/*GENETICS  Lentivirus/*GENETICS  Male  Middle Age  Molecular
       Sequence Data  Polymerase Chain Reaction  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
       Synovial Fluid/MICROBIOLOGY  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).