Whittemore Peterson Institute - XMRV

“This is the breakthrough that we have been hoping for. Now we have
scientific proof that this infectious agent is a significant factor in
ME/CFS,” said Annette Whittemore, founder and president of WPI and
mother of a ME/CFS patient. “Patients and their doctors will soon have
a blood test to verify their diagnosis and provide the answers that
they’ve been seeking.”

Daniel Peterson, M.D., medical director of WPI added, “Patients with
ME/CFS (XAND) deal with a myriad of health issues as their quality of
life declines. I’m excited about the possibility of providing patients
who are positive for XMRV a definitive diagnosis, and hopefully very
soon, a range of effective treatments options.”

Information relating to XMRV associated neuroimmune disease can be
found at www.wpinstitute.org. Those with XAND (ME/CFS) and/or
fibromyalgia, interested in participating in research studies to
further the development of diagnostic tests, should complete the
questionnaire available at www.wpinstitute.org.

The Center for Molecular Medicine, now under construction, at the
University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, is the future home of
the Whittemore Peterson Institute.

“We’re excited about the opening of our new facility next summer,
which will not only add thousands of square feet to our existing
laboratory space, but will also provide new space for comprehensive
patient care,” added Whittemore.

Whittemore Peterson Institute - XMRV: "We have detected the retroviral infection XMRV is greater than 95% of the more than 200 ME/CFS, Fibromylagia, Atypical MS patients tested. The current working hypothesis is that XMRV infection of B, T, NK and other cells of the innate immune response causes the chronic inflammation and immune deficiency resulting in an inability to mount an effective immune response to opportunistic infections.
This discovery opens an entire new avenue of Neuro-Immune Disease related research and our discovery has brought to this field world-renown immunologists and retrovirologists building our team of collaborators to translate our discoveries into new treatments as soon as possible.
Because retroviruses are known to cause inflammatory diseases, neurological disease immune deficiency and cancer the discovery of XMRV has far reaching implications for the prevention and treatment of not only lymphoma, one of the potentially devastating complications of ME/CFS but prostate cancer and perhaps many others.
As National Academy of Sciences member and expert retrovirologist, John Coffin wrote in the commentary accompanying our landmark publication in Science 'One New Virus-How many Old Diseases'. We look forward to translating this discovery into treatment options!"