A retrovirus similar to the one that causes AIDS has been found in people
with another disease, Sjogren鈥檚 syndrome.
Medical scientists suspected that retroviruses might cause several diseases.
But only two were known to infect humans: HIV and a leukaemia virus.
Robert Garry of Tulane University in New Orleans and colleagues studied
Sjogren鈥檚 syndrome, which causes dry mouth and eyes. They isolated a virus
which they dubbed human intracisternal A-type retroviral particle, or HIAP
(Science, 23 November, p 1127).
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Like AIDS, Sjogren鈥檚 syndrome is an autoimmune disease, in which a person鈥檚
immune system is redirected to attack the body鈥檚 own tissues. Both HIV and
HIAP first take control of cells to reproduce in the body. Garry also found
that one-third of his patients with the syndrome produced antibodies that
react against HIV. This may explain why people with Sojgren鈥檚 syndrome often
test positive in tests for AIDS that rely on antibodies to the disease.
