Ciampolillo A, Marini V, Mirakian R, Buscema M, Schulz T, Pujol-Borrell R, Bottazzo G F
Department of Immunology, University College, Middlesex School of Medicine, London, UK.
Lancet. 1989 May 20;1(8647):1096-100. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(89)92382-9.
On Southern blotting of DNA extracted from thyroid glands of five patients with Graves' disease, two probes (720 bp and 942 bp) for gag human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gave a positive hybridisation signal in all samples tested. DNAs from peripheral blood mononuclear cells hybridised with the 720 bp gag HIV-1 probe in three of the five patients, none of whom had antibodies to HIV-1. Negative results were obtained with DNA from normal thyroid glands, thyroid neoplasms, various unrelated normal tissues, and virus-infected human cell lines. The intensity of the signal and the pattern of bands observed with the DNA of Graves' patients were heterogeneous and, in general, were not the same in the thyroid glands and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of individual patients. Similarly, no correlation was found between the positive hybridisation signals and other genetic and immunological indices or the duration of anti-thyroid drug treatment at the time the patients were investigated. The findings suggest the presence of a novel retrovirus, and the retrovirus-like sequences seem to be closely associated with thyroid autoimmunity.
对五名格雷夫斯病患者甲状腺提取的DNA进行Southern印迹分析时，两种针对1型人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV-1）gag基因的探针（720 bp和942 bp）在所有检测样本中均产生了阳性杂交信号。五名患者中有三名患者外周血单个核细胞的DNA与720 bp的HIV-1 gag探针杂交，其中无一例有抗HIV-1抗体。正常甲状腺、甲状腺肿瘤、各种不相关正常组织以及病毒感染的人类细胞系的DNA检测结果均为阴性。格雷夫斯病患者DNA的信号强度和条带模式存在异质性，并且一般来说，个体患者的甲状腺和外周血单个核细胞中的情况并不相同。同样，在对患者进行调查时，未发现阳性杂交信号与其他遗传和免疫学指标或抗甲状腺药物治疗时长之间存在相关性。这些发现提示存在一种新型逆转录病毒，且类似逆转录病毒的序列似乎与甲状腺自身免疫密切相关。
