Bo Marco, Manetti Roberto, Biggio Maria Luigia, Sechi Leonardo A
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Microbiology and Virology, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43b, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
Struttura Complessa Microbiologia e Virologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
Biomedicines. 2024 Aug 9;12(8):1811. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12081811.
Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated disease characterized by disruptions of the small intestine. Factors such as viral and bacterial infections can trigger CD. Recently, the reactivation of Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs) has also been implicated, but little is known about their specific role in patients with celiac disease.
The purpose of this study is to explore the humoral immune response mounted against epitopes derived from the envelope portion of three families of HERVs (HERV-K, HERV-H, and HERV-W) in CD patients. Reactivity against the HERV-K, HERV-H, and HERV-W env-su peptides was tested by indirect ELISAs in plasma of 40 patients with celiac disease and 41 age-matched healthy subjects (HCs).
HERV-K, HERV-H, and HERV-W env-su peptides triggered different antibody responses in CD patients compared to HCs, with a stronger reactivity ( = 0.0001).
Present results show, for the first time, that epitopes of HERV-K, HERV-H, and HERV-W are more recognized in patients with CD. Taking into consideration their proinflammatory and autoimmune features, this might suggest that HERVs may contribute to the development of CD or its exacerbation in genetically predisposed subjects. Finally, to elucidate the interplay between gut inflammation and HERVs during the inflammatory process, further studies are required. Those investigations should focus on the expression levels of HERVs and their relationship with the immune response, specifically examining anti-transglutaminase 2 (TG2) antibody levels under both gluten-free and gluten-containing dietary conditions.
乳糜泻（CD）是一种以小肠功能紊乱为特征的免疫介导性疾病。病毒和细菌感染等因素可引发乳糜泻。最近，人类内源性逆转录病毒（HERV）的重新激活也与之相关，但对其在乳糜泻患者中的具体作用知之甚少。
本研究的目的是探索乳糜泻患者针对源自三种HERV家族（HERV-K、HERV-H和HERV-W）包膜部分表位的体液免疫反应。通过间接酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）检测了40例乳糜泻患者和41例年龄匹配的健康受试者（HCs）血浆中对HERV-K、HERV-H和HERV-W env-su肽的反应性。
与健康受试者相比，HERV-K、HERV-H和HERV-W env-su肽在乳糜泻患者中引发了不同的抗体反应，反应性更强（P = 0.0001）。
目前的结果首次表明，HERV-K、HERV-H和HERV-W的表位在乳糜泻患者中更易被识别。考虑到它们的促炎和自身免疫特征，这可能表明HERV可能在遗传易感性个体中促成乳糜泻的发展或使其病情加重。最后，为了阐明肠道炎症与HERV在炎症过程中的相互作用，还需要进一步研究。这些研究应聚焦于HERV的表达水平及其与免疫反应的关系，特别是在无麸质和含麸质饮食条件下检测抗转谷氨酰胺酶2（TG2）抗体水平。
