Absence of association between human spumaretrovirus and Graves' disease

Graves' disease (GD) is an autoimmune thyroid disease. The etiology of GD is still not clear. Both genetic and environmental factors, such as infectious agents, are believed to be involved in its pathogenesis. Recent findings suggest a role for human spumaretrovirus (HSRV) in the pathogenesis of GD. To test this hypothesis, we looked for the HSRV gag region sequence in DNA extracted from the peripheral blood leukocytes and thyroid tissue of patients with GD, and controls. Genomic DNA was subjected to a highly sensitive nested polymerase chain reaction, followed by dot-blot hybridization with an internal probe. HSRV gag region DNA fragments were detected in the peripheral blood leukocytes of patients with GD and controls to a similar extent; 5.3% (2/38) of Caucasian patients with GD, 4.7% (2/43) of Caucasian controls, 4.7% (2/43) of African-American patients with GD, and 6.5% of (3/46) African-American controls. Similar values were obtained for the samples of thyroid tissues; 5.5% (1/18) of Caucasian patients with GD and 5.0% (1/20) of controls. The differences in all these comparisons were not statistically significant. These results do not support a role for HSRV in the pathogenesis of GD.