Hb. Urnovitz et Wh. Murphy, HUMAN ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUSES - NATURE, OCCURRENCE, AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS IN HUMAN-DISEASE, Clinical microbiology reviews, 9(1), 1996, pp. 72
Retroviral diagnostics have become standard in human laboratory medici
ne. While current emphasis is placed on the human exogenous viruses (h
uman immunodeficiency virus and human T-cell leukemia virus), Evidence
implicating human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) in various human di
sease entities continues to mount. Literature on the occurrence of HER
Vs in human tissues and cells was analyzed. Substantial Evidence docum
ents that retrovirus particles were clearly demonstrable in various ti
ssues and cells in both health and disease and were abundant in the pl
acenta and that their occurrence could be implicated in some of the re
productive diseases. The characteristics of HERVs are summarized, mech
anisms of replication and regulation are outlined, and the consistent
hormonal responsiveness of HERVs is noted. Clear evidence implicating
HERV gene products as participants in glomerulonephritis in some cases
of systemic lupus erythematosus is adduced. Data implicating HERVs as
etiologic factors in reproductive diseases, in some of the autoimmune
diseases, in some forms of rheumatoid arthritis and connective tissue
disease, in psoriasis, and in some of the inflammatory neurologic dis
eases are reviewed. The current major needs are to improve methods for
HERV detection, to identify, the most appropriate HERV prototypes, an
d to develop diagnostic reagents so that the putative biologic and pat
hologic roles of HERVs can be better evaluated.