| Disease | HERV | Study | Molecular Technique | Significance/Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RA | HTLV-1 p19 and HIV p24 antigens | Ziegler et al. [35, 36] | Western blot, ELISA | 45-55% patients expressed HTLV-1 antigen in synovial tissue, without serological HTLV-1 infection |
| HERV-K10 | Nelson et al. [31] | Quantitative RT-PCR | Significant association of sequence homology between HERVs and autoimmune rheumatic diseases | |
| HERV-K10 | Reynier et al. [13] | NASBA | HERV-K detected in plasma of RA patients, with higher levels observed for those with active disease. | |
| HERV-K10 | Ejtehadi et al. [46] | Multiplex RT-PCR | Enhanced expression of HERV-K10 in RA | |
| HERV-K10 HERV-W (MSRV) ERV-9 |
Nakagawa et al. [49] | RT-PCR | Multiple HERVs were expressed in normal and diseased synovium | |
| HERV-K10 | Friemanis et al. [17] | Quantitative RT-PCR, ELISA | RA patients exhibited significantly elevated levels of HERV-K gag activity compared to controls | |
| HERV-K113 | Krzysztalowska-Wawrzyniak et al. [47] | PCR | Significantly increased prevalence of HERV-K113 in patients with SLE and RA | |
| SLE | HRES-1 | Banki et al. [39] | Western blot, ELISA | Sera from patients with autoimmune disease had increased HRES-1 peptide binding activity than controls. |
| HRES-1 | Perl et al. [63] | Western blot, ELISA | Autoantibodies to HRES-1 found in autoimmune disease, especially if Ro / La negative. | |
| HRES-1 | Pullman et al. [69] | Southern blot, PCR | The HRES-1 locus at the 1q42 chromosomal region influences SLE development and disease manifestations | |
| HIAP-1 | Deas et al. [72] | Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) | Cells exposed to HIAP-1 may be protected from apoptosis. | |
| HTLV-1 p19 and HIV p24 antigens | Talal et al. [37-38] | Western blot | Antibodies to p24 gag of HIV-1 found in absence of HIV-1 infection. Anti-Sm antibodies can cross-react with p24 gag. | |
| ERV-3 | Li et al. [30] | Western blot, ELISA | ERV-3 may have a role in the pathogenesis of neonatal congenital heart block. | |
| JIA | HERV-K18 | Sicat et al. [82] | Semi-quantitative RT-PCR | HERV-K18 levels elevated suggesting a mechanism for autoimmunity by superantigen stimulation of auto-reactive T cells. |
| SJS | HIAP-1 | Garry et al. [73] | PCR | HIAP-1 detected in cells exposed to salivary tissue from patients with Sjögren's syndrome. |
| HRES-1 | Brookes et al. [40] | Northern blot, ELISA | Significantly elevated levels of antibodies to HTLV-1 were found in several diseases. | |
| HERV-E env protein (λ4-1) | Hishikawa et al. [96] | Western blot | Anti-p30gag antibodies detected in sera of several diseases |