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XMRV Link to CFS Generates New Scientific and Media Interest

In the Oct. 8, 2009 issue of Science Express, researchers at the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI), the Cleveland Clinic and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) report that 67% of 101 chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients tested positive for infection with xenotropic murine retrovirus (XMRV), a gammaretrovirus associated with a subset of prostate cancer. Only 3.7% of 218 healthy subjects tested were positive for the virus. Read the joint press release.

These important results provide evidence of the association of at least a subset of CFS cases with retroviruses, a hypothesis formed in the mid-1980s and pursued by several independent research groups. XMRV was discovered in 2009 in a subset of prostate cancer patients’ tumor cells.

The authors raise questions about this discovery at the end of the article, including “Is XMRV infection a causal factor in the pathogenesis of CFS or a passenger virus in the immunosuppressed CFS patient population?” This question and others warrant additional investigation and the replication of this study’s findings in other patient cohorts has generated new interest in CFS by many research groups. Two studies reporting negative results have been published in Jan. and Feb. by researchers in the U.K. A third negative study was reported by Dutch researchers on Feb.25. Several new XMRV-related studies were presented at the 2010 conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections on Feb. 19, 2010 and others have been published in peer-reviewed journals. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is supporting studies to assess the potential risks to the blood supply that will standardize tests for XMRV.

There is currently no FDA-approved test available for XMRV and studies of antiviral and antiretroviral treatments must be conducted to test their efficacy against XMRV infection and their safety in XMRV-positive patients.

The CFIDS Association of America congratulates Dr. Judy Mikovits and her team at the Whittemore Peterson Institute and their collaborators at the Cleveland Clinic and NCI for this landmark discovery. The findings themselves and publication of them in a journal of the stature and circulation of Science is a highly significant contribution to the field. Their study and the high-profile publication are important validation of the reality and seriousness of CFS and those who suffer and have been stigmatized too long.

Additional Information (updated regularly)

Resources Listed by Source

The CFIDS Association of America

Peer-Reviewed Journals

CFS-specific studies of XMRV

CFS Experts:

Government Agencies/Professional Organizations:

Media:

Citations (in order of publication date):

Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Lombardi VC, Ruscetti FW, Gupta JD, Pfost MA, Hagen KS, Peterson DL, Ruscetti SK, Bagni RK, Petrow-Sadowski C, Gold B, Dean M, Silverman RH, Mikovits JA. Science 8 October 2009. 1179052.

Supporting online material for Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Lombardi VC, Ruscetti FW, Gupta JD, Pfost MA, Hagen KS, Peterson DL, Ruscetti SK, Bagni RK, Petrow-Sadowski C, Gold B, Dean M, Silverman RH, Mikovits JA. Science 8 October 2009.

A new virus for old diseases? Coffin JM and Stoye JP. Science 8 October 8 2009. Erlwein O, Kaye S, McClure MO, Weber J, Willis G, Collier D, Wessley S, Cleare A. Failure to detect the novel retrovirus XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome. PLoS ONE 5(1):e8519. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008519

Absence of xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus in UK patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Groom HCT, Boucherit VC, Makinson K, Randal E, Baptista S, Hagan S, Gow JW, Mattes FM, Breuer J, Kerr JR, Stoye JP, Bishop KN. Retrovirology: 15 February 2010. 10.1186/1742-4690-7-10

Van Kuppeveld FJM, de Jong AS, Lanke KH, Verhaegh GW, Melchers WJG, Swanink CMA, et al. Prevalence of xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome in the Netherlands: retrospective analysis of samples from an established cohort. BMJ 2010;340:c1018.

Last updated March 8, 2010