Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Medical School, University of Turin, Turin, Italy -
Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, Regina Margherita Hospital, Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy.
Minerva Pediatr (Torino). 2022 Aug;74(4):421-427. doi: 10.23736/S2724-5276.17.04717-X. Epub 2017 May 4.
HERVs expression seems impaired in several diseases, ranging from autoimmune to neoplastic disorders. However, various stimuli may re-activate HERVs transcription. Henoch-Schönlein purpura is the most common cause of vasculitis in children. The role of microbial antigens in the pathogenesis of HSP remains elusive. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the first line of defense for the host to initiate an immune and inflammatory response. We aimed to investigate HERV, K and W expression in peripheral mononuclear cells of children with HSP and relation with TLRs activation.
The study enrolled 63 children affected by HSP. We used RT-PCR to detect GAPDH in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells samples to normalize the data. Subsequently, the viral pol gene HERVs and TLRs transcripts in the same samples were assessed.
HERV K and W was expressed in all samples analyzed but the level of expression was much lower in the HSP that in HC P=0.0006 and P=0.0004 for HERV-K and -W respectively. TLR2 was hyper-expressed in 39 vs. 63 (62%) of the HSP, TLR3 in 23 vs. 63 (42%), TLR4 in 42 vs. 63 (66%) and TLR9 in 32 vs. 63 (52%). The different expression was statistically significant only for TLR4 (P=0.0276) no for TLR2,3 and 9 (P=0.1251; 0.3964 and 0.1882 respectively). Spearman's test demonstrated no correlation between the low expression of HERV-K and HERV-W and high expression of TLRs.
The results of the present study demonstrated that mRNA expression of HERV-K and -W and TLRs did not directly correlated.
HERV 的表达似乎在多种疾病中受到损害，范围从自身免疫到肿瘤疾病。然而，各种刺激因素可能会重新激活 HERV 的转录。过敏性紫癜是儿童血管炎最常见的原因。微生物抗原在 HSP 的发病机制中的作用仍不清楚。Toll 样受体 (TLR) 是宿主启动免疫和炎症反应的第一道防线。我们旨在研究 HSP 患儿外周血单个核细胞中 HERV、K 和 W 的表达及其与 TLR 激活的关系。
本研究纳入了 63 例 HSP 患儿。我们使用 RT-PCR 检测外周血单个核细胞样本中的 GAPDH 来对数据进行归一化。随后，评估了同一样本中病毒 pol 基因 HERV 和 TLR 转录本。
HERV-K 和 -W 在所有分析的样本中均有表达，但在 HSP 患儿中的表达水平明显低于健康对照组（P=0.0006 和 P=0.0004 分别用于 HERV-K 和 -W）。39 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR2 过度表达，63 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR2 过度表达 62%；23 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR3 过度表达，63 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR3 过度表达 42%；42 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR4 过度表达，63 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR4 过度表达 66%；32 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR9 过度表达，63 例 HSP 患儿中 TLR9 过度表达 52%。仅 TLR4 的差异表达具有统计学意义（P=0.0276），而 TLR2、3 和 9 的差异表达无统计学意义（P=0.1251；0.3964 和 0.1882 分别）。Spearman 检验表明 HERV-K 和 HERV-W 的低表达与 TLRs 的高表达之间无直接相关性。
本研究结果表明，HERV-K 和 HERV-W 的 mRNA 表达与 TLRs 表达之间没有直接相关性。
