New XMRV Study Not The First To Find a Retroviral Link
Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a disabling neurological illness. New study suggests it might be caused by the retrovirus XMRV.
New study, published in the prestigious journal Science, found the retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) in 67% of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). Only 3.7% of the studied healthy controls harbored this infection. Later the researchers have reported up to 95% of patients test positive with antibody testing.
XMRV belongs to the group of gammaretroviruses and has previously been associated with prostate cancer. Little is known about most types of human retroviruses, aside from the best known one: HIV.
This is not the first time CFS/ME has been associated with a chronic viral infection - it used to be called "post-viral fatigue syndrome", after all. In studies CFS/ME has been connected with a variety of different viruses, including
- herpesviruses (especially Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus and HHV-6)
- enteroviruses (polioviruses, Coxsackie viruses, echoviruses)
- parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV-5)
- parvovirus B19
- various retroviruses
History of CFS/ME and Retroviruses
The study group of Elaine DeFreitas reported a link between CFS/ME and retroviruses back in 1991. This virus was most closely related to HTLV-2 (human T-lymphotropic virus 2), which belongs to a different group of retroviruses, deltaretroviruses. None of the healthy controls in the study showed evidence of this virus.
Immunovirologist Michael Holmes described retroviral activity in cells of CFS/ME patients as early as 1986. However, he did not elucidate on the type of the retrovirus. Another researcher John Martin reported finding a spumavirus type retrovirus in CFS/ME, also in the early 1990s.
Read more: http://chronic-fatigue-syndrome.suite101.com/article.cfm/cfsme_and_retroviruses#ixzz0TX8EYmAp
Related article: Study links virus to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
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