Endogenous Retroviruses as Contributors to Psychotic Illness?

Genetic, infectious, and inflammatory factors have all been cited as contributing to psychotic illnesses in humans. Investigating processes that might involve all of these factors, an international team of researchers examined a human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from 91 patients with bipolar disorder, 45 with schizophrenia, and 73 healthy controls. Several researchers are employed by a related research company.

HERVs are atypical genetic elements that make up 8% of the human genome. The researchers focused on a particular element (in the HERV-W family) that was previously associated with multiple sclerosis. When affected by infectious agents, this HERV expresses proinflammatory envelope protei…