End Fatigue

XMRV Virus Found in CFS Patients

A new study shows that a virus related to the AIDS virus, called "XMRV," is present in a high percent of those with CFS and rare in healthy people. Many of you have heard me call CFS the “Infection of the Month” club, because there are many opportunistic infections present in CFS that are rare in those with a healthy immune system. For example:

And these are just a few.

With so many different infections positive in CFS/FMS patients, it suggests that the most likely problem is that the poor immune system function present in CFS results in people picking up MANY infectious “hitch hikers.” Some of these are worth treating, and some will simply go away when the overall process is treated with SHINE.

But why is this article getting so much attention, even being picked up by the NY Times (which has in the past called CFS the “Yuppie Flu”). I find it interesting to watch the politics. For starters, as some nitwits out there still like to make believe CFS is "all in people’s heads," this study, along with dozens of others, again confirms just what nitwits they are. But don’t expect a study in Science or the truth to sway their thinking anytime soon. Perhaps eventually they will learn they can offer "coping counseling" CBT in any severe disease (e.g., cancer, MS, etc.), without trying to invalidate the physical nature of the illness and imply people are nuts because they are ill.

Why else might this research get more attention? Could it be because the AIDS drugs used for that virus cost over $10,000 per year (multiply by over 2 million in the U.S. alone with CFS = $20 billion = CaChing!), and I suspect this will help to push it along. An exercise in how things work ;-)

In the meanwhile, it adds more to our understanding, and I encourage the researchers' work. In particular, I would note that the WPI and Dr. Peterson are excellent, and I hold them in high regard.

I simply recommend that we understand the background, so we can gain a better perspective.

REPORT: Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Submitted on July 14, 2009
Accepted on August 31, 2009

Vincent C. Lombardi¹, Francis W. Ruscetti², Jaydip Das Gupta³, Max A. Pfost¹, Kathryn S. Hagen¹, Daniel L. Peterson¹, Sandra K. Ruscetti⁴, Rachel K. Bagni⁵, Cari Petrow-Sadowski⁶, Bert Gold², Michael Dean², Robert H. Silverman³, Judy A. Mikovits^1*

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating disease of unknown etiology that is estimated to affect 17 million people worldwide. Studying peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from CFS patients, we identified DNA from a human gammaretrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV), in 68 of 101 patients (67%) compared to 8 of 218 (3.7%) healthy controls. Cell culture experiments revealed that patient-derived XMRV is infectious and that both cell-associated and cell-free transmission of the virus are possible. Secondary viral infections were established in uninfected primary lymphocytes and indicator cell lines following exposure to activated PBMCs, B cells, T cells, or plasma derived from CFS patients. These findings raise the possibility that XMRV may be a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of CFS.

Footnotes:

¹Whittemore Peterson Institute, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
²Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21701, USA.
³Department of Cancer Biology, The Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
⁴Laboratory of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21701, USA.
⁵Advanced Technology Program, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21701, USA.
⁶Basic Research Program, Scientific Applications International Corporation, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MD 21701, USA.

These authors contributed equally to this work.

^*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Judy A. Mikovits, Email: judym@wpinstitute.org.

See the fill article at Sciencemag.org.