The activation and involvement of human endogenous retroviruses W family envelope gene (HERV-W env, also called ERVWE1) have been reported in several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, as well as in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Whereas syncytin-1 appears to be crucial for the development and functioning of the human placenta, its ectopic expression has been associated with pathological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia.
The molecular characteristics of HERV-W env also differ from what was observed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and may represent distinct features of the genome of patients with BD and SZ.
The molecular characteristics of HERV-W env also differ from what was observed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and may represent distinct features of the genome of patients with BD and SZ.
We identified genes with mRNA sequences homologous to HERV-W env gene from plasmas of 42 out of 118 individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia but not from any of 106 normal persons (P < .01, t test).