Friday, October 09, 2009

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

Abstract:
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 cellassociated
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.

Journal: Science [Published on-line as a Sciencexpess Report: October 8, 2009]

Authors: Vincent C. Lombardi [1*], Francis W. Ruscetti [2*],
Jaydip Das Gupta [3], Max A. Pfost [1], Kathryn S. Hagen [1],
Daniel L. Peterson [1],Sandra K. Ruscetti [4], Rachel K. Bagni [5],
Cari Petrow-Sadowski [6], Bert Gold [2], Michael Dean [2] Robert
H. Silverman [3], Judy A. Mikovits [1†]

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