Balestrieri Emanuela, Pitzianti Mariabernarda, Matteucci Claudia, D'Agati Elisa, Sorrentino Roberta, Baratta Antonia, Caterina Rosa, Zenobi Rossella, Curatolo Paolo, Garaci Enrico, Sinibaldi-Vallebona Paola, Pasini Augusto
Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, "Tor Vergata" University of Rome , Rome , Italy.
World J Biol Psychiatry. 2014 Aug;15(6):499-504. doi: 10.3109/15622975.2013.862345. Epub 2013 Nov 28.
Several lines of evidences suggest that human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are implicated in the development of many complex diseases with a multifactorial aetiology and a strong heritability, such as neurological and psychiatric diseases. Attention deficit hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results from a complex interaction of environmental, biological and genetic factors. Our aim was to analyse the expression levels of three HERV families (HERV-H, K and W) in patients with ADHD.
The expression of retroviral mRNAs from the three HERV families was evaluated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 patients with ADHD and 30 healthy controls by quantitative RT-PCR.
The expression levels of HERV-H are significantly higher in patients with ADHD compared to healthy controls, while there are no differences in the expression levels of HERV-K and W.
Since the ADHD aetiology is due to a complex interaction of environmental, biological and genetic factors, HERVs may represent one link among these factors and clinical phenotype of ADHD. A future confirmation of HERV-H overexpression in a larger number of ADHD patients will make possible to identify it as a new parameter for this clinical condition, also contributing to deepen the study on the role of HERVs in the neurodevelopment diseases.
多项证据表明，人类内源性逆转录病毒（HERV）与许多具有多因素病因和强遗传性的复杂疾病的发生有关，如神经和精神疾病。注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是一种神经发育障碍，由环境、生物和遗传因素的复杂相互作用引起。我们的目的是分析ADHD患者中三个HERV家族（HERV-H、K和W）的表达水平。
通过定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）评估30例ADHD患者和30例健康对照外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）中三个HERV家族逆转录病毒mRNA的表达。
与健康对照相比，ADHD患者中HERV-H的表达水平显著更高，而HERV-K和W的表达水平没有差异。
由于ADHD的病因是环境、生物和遗传因素的复杂相互作用，HERV可能代表这些因素与ADHD临床表型之间的一个联系。未来在大量ADHD患者中对HERV-H过表达的进一步证实将有可能将其确定为这种临床病症的一个新参数，也有助于深化对HERV在神经发育疾病中作用的研究。
