Detection of retrovirus in salivary glands of patients with Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract

As similar symptoms and glandular pathology are observed in certain persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I), a search was initiated for a possible retroviral etiology in Sjögren's syndrome (SS). Sera from 33% of 15 SS patients reacted against p24 (gag) of HIV. Salivary gland (SG) biopsy specimens from 47% of the 15 SS patients contained an epithelial cytoplasmic protein, reactive with a monoclonal antibody to p24 of HIV. We also detected Mn2+ dependent, Mg2+ independent reverse transcriptase activity in the SG 3 of 10 SS patients. Target genes for HIV and HTLV-I were not found in any of the SG or peripheral blood mononuclear cells from SS patients. These data suggest the presence of an unknown retrovirus, similar to HIV, in the SG, which could contribute to the chronic inflammation of SS.