THE INVENTION REFERS TO THE PURIFIED PREPARATION OF A NEW RETROVIRUS, TO METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS AND THE TREATMENT OF THE "SJOGREN" SYNDROME, TO NEW CELLULAR LINES, AND TO MODEL SYSTEMS FOR THE STUDY OF ANTI-MINIMUM ILLNESSES. THE INVENTION IS BASED, IN PART, ON THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW RETROVIRUS THAT IS ANTIGENICALLY SIMILAR TO THE VIRUS OF HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY BUT IT SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND A FUNCTIONALLY DIFFERENT REVERSE TRANSCRIPT. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INVENTION, THE "SJOGREN" SYNDROME AS WELL AS OTHER ANTI-IMMUNE ILLNESSES CAN BE DIAGNOSED, AND ITS CLINICAL EVOLUTION CAN BE MONITORED, DEMONSTRATING THE PRESENCE OF ANTIRETROVIRAL ANTI-BELL-OLD ANTI-BODIES. Alternatively, the "SJOGREN" SYNDROME OR OTHER ANTI-IMMUNE DISEASES CAN BE DIAGNOSED OR MONITORED BY DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY THE PRESENCE OF VIRAL PARTICLES IN A PATIENT'S CELLS. IN ADDITION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INVENTION, PATIENTS WHO SUFFER THE "SJOGREN" SYNDROME AND HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THEY PRESENT THE RETROVIRUS OR ANTIRETROVIRAL ANTIBODIES MAY BE TREATED WITH AGENTS WHO ARE KNOWN USEFUL IN THE TREATMENT PERFORMED IN PERFORMANCE. TO AGENTS THAT INTERFER WITH THE FUNCTION OF THE REVERSE TRANSCRIPT, SUCH AS, FOR EXAMPLE, NUCLEOSID ANALOGS (FOR EXAMPLE ZODIVUDINE OR DIDEOXINOSINE).
展开▼
