ABSENCE OF FOAMY VIRUS-DNA IN GRAVES-DISEASE

A report on the high prevalence of foamy virus DNA in lymphocytes from French patients with Graves' disease prompted us to investigate a sim ilar cohort of 41 German patients. Using PCR amplification and Souther n blot hybridization, we detected foamy virus DNA only in lymphocytes of two accidentally infected humans and five naturally infected monkey s, as well as in DNA samples from four Graves' disease patients invest igated in the French study. However, we failed to detect foamy virus D NA in peripheral blood lymphocytes from any of the 41 Graves' disease patients of the German cohort. Thus, a causative role of foamy viruses in this thyroid disease is highly improbable.