Endogenous human retrovirus-K is not increased in the affected tissues of Japanese ALS patients

Activation of human endogenous retrovirus-K (HERV-K) is one of the proposed risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The HERV-K envelope protein has been reported to show neurotoxicity, and development of therapy with reverse transcriptase inhibitors is being investigated. On the other hand, some reports have failed to show HERV-K activation in ALS. In this study, we analyzed the expression of HERV-K mRNA in the motor cortex and spinal cord of 15 Japanese patients with sporadic ALS and 19 controls using reverse transcriptase droplet digital PCR. This revealed no significant increase of HERV-K expression in ALS-affected tissues, sug-gesting that the association between ALS and HERV-K remains questionable.

Automated summary

In this study, the expression of HERV-K mRNA in the motor cortex and spinal cord of Japanese ALS patients and controls was analyzed. The results showed no significant increase in HERV-K expression in ALS-affected tissues, suggesting the association between ALS and HERV-K remains questionable.