THEY came from the sea to try us. Giant waterborne viruses called mimiviruses may trigger arthritis, according to the first study to link them to disease.
Mimiviruses are unusual in that they make the protein collagen, using genes similar to the ones we use. of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, wondered whether people exposed to these viruses would make antibodies against viral collagen. If so, these could attack human collagen, leading to rheumatoid arthritis. He injected mice with viral collagen and found that antibody levels soared. A month later, all the mice had developed arthritis.
The same mechanism could be at work in humans: Hennet found the antibodies in 22 per cent of blood samples from people with arthritis, compared with 6 per cent from healthy people (Journal of Virology, ).
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This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淎rthritis triggers from the deep鈥�