HERV Dysregulation in a Case of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Multiple Sclerosis Responsive to Rituximab

This article summarizes the case of 30-year-old male diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and its longitudinal follow-up, which provided a secondary diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) eight years later. The most impactful result was his response to rituximab treatment after the systematic failure of prior treatments. Although the expression of endogenous retroviral proteins has been associated with autoimmunity, the patient did not show increased expression of the toxic protein HERV (human endogenous retrovirus)-W ENV, a target of the ongoing clinical trials with temelimab in MS and long COVID-19 cases. However, genome-wide HERV transcriptome analysis by high density microarrays clearly revealed a distinct profile in the patient’s blood supportive of an altered immune system. Limitations of the study include sub-optimal frequency of magnetic resonance imaging to monitor lesion progression, and similarly for reassessment of HERV profiles after rituximab. Overall, the coincidence of HERV alterations and the impactful response to rituximab presents the possibility of additional, more specific, therapeutic targets encoded by other HERV elements yet to be discovered.