ABSENCE OF LENTIVIRAL AND HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA VIRAL SEQUENCES IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

Objective. The etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unknown, and t he possibility that an infectious agent is involved has not been exclu ded. Lentiviruses can cause chronic arthritis in humans and in animals and have been suggested as candidate agents in RA. We therefore teste d for the presence of lentiviruses and also for human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I)/HTLV-II in cells from patients with RA. Methods. We used the polymerase chain reaction with degenerate primers designe d to recognize highly conserved nucleotide sequences from 5 different pathogenic lentiviruses. This method allowed the detection of at least 1 infected cell/20,000 uninfected cells in control experiments. Resul ts. Testing of synovial cells and blood cells from patients with early RA and patients with established RA did not yield any specific viral product. Conclusion. Our results do not support the presence of lentiv iruses or HTLV-like sequences in RA.