FAILURE TO DETECT PARAMYXOVIRUS RNA IN THE SKIN OF CONNECTIVE-TISSUE DISEASE

Etiology of connective tissue disease is unknown. The association of i nfectious agents has been suspected serologically, ultrastructurally a nd recently by means of molecular biological techniques. We extracted RNA from lesions of 25 discoid lupus erythematosus, 9 systemic LE, and 3 systemic sclerosis biopsies, and reverse transcription-polymerase c hain reaction was performed for all paramyxoviruses known to infect hu man beings. None of the samples yielded positive signal for any of the viruses. The existence of paramyxovirus in the skin of connective tis sue disease is very unlikely.