Antibodies to human T cell leukemia virus are absent in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

It has been anticipated that type C oncornaviruses, which participate in the pathogenesis of murine systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), would be found to have a role in the development of SLE in humans. In studies of tissues from SLE patients, type C-related proteins have been identified. Using information obtained on the recent isolation of the human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV), together with that from studies of murine SLE, we attempted to clarify the role of antibodies to HTLV in the pathogenesis of human SLE. Using a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic techniques, we were unable to find evidence of the participation of antibodies to HTLV proteins in the development of human SLE.