Finally a verdict…

… on XMRV and pMLV and CFS/ME.

In an extensive study funded by National Institutes of Health and with many expert groups participating, the conclusion is that the original study by Dr. Mikovits that XMRV or similar viruses is a cause of CFS, is WRONG. No such links can be found.

In a statement from Dr. Mikovits, the author of the Science paper wherein XMRV was first linked to CFS, she said:

"I greatly appreciated the opportunity to fully participate in this unprecedented study. Unprecedented because of the level of collaboration, the integrity of the investigators, and the commitment of the NIH to provide its considerable resources to the CFS community for this important study. Although I am disappointed that we found no association of XMRV/pMLV to CFS, the silver lining is that our 2009 Science report resulted in global awareness of this crippling disease and has sparked new interest in CFS research. I am dedicated to continuing to work with leaders in the field of pathogen discovery in the effort to determine the etiologic agent for CFS."

"Although the once promising XMRV and pMLV hypotheses have been excluded, the consequences of the early reports linking these viruses to disease are that new resources and investigators have been recruited to address the challenge of the CFS/ME", said W. Ian Lipkin, MD, director of the multi-site study and John Snow Professor of Epidemiology in the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University.

"We are confident that these investments will yield insights into the causes, prevention and treatment of CFS/ME."

Research on the causes of CFS/ME will continue, says Lipkin.

"We've tested the XMRV/pMLV hypothesis and found it wanting," he says.

But, he says, "we are not abandoning the patients. We are not abandoning the science. The controversy brought a new focus that will drive efforts to understand CFS/ME and lead to improvements in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of this syndrome."

References:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is Not Linked to Suspect Viruses

Multi-site blinded study puts to rest the notion that these viruses cause the mysterious ailment

EurekAlert! - Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Viruses Not to Blame for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome After All

EurekAlert! - Tuesday, 18 September 2012

ZenMaster

A second study,…

… published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, confirm the presence of XMRV and other MRV-related viruses in a high proportion of chronic fatigue syndrome patients. Scientists found gene sequences from several MRV-related viruses in blood cells from 32 out of 37 chronic-fatigue patients but only 3 of 44 healthy ones.

Chronic Fatigue Linked to Virus Class
New York Times - 23 August 2010
When the journal Science published an attention-grabbing study last fall linking chronic fatigue syndrome to a recently discovered retrovirus, many experts remained skeptical — especially after four other studies found no such association.

Reference:

Detection of MLV-related virus gene sequences in blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy blood donors
Shyh-Ching Lo, Natalia Pripuzova, Bingjie Li, Anthony L. Komaroff, Guo-Chiuan Hung, Richard Wang, and Harvey J. Alter
PNAS published ahead of print August 23, 2010, doi:10.1073/pnas.1006901107


ZenMaster

One more step…

… towards a treatment of CFS?
Scientists at University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Emory University at Decatur, Georgia now report that several HIV drugs inhibit the replication of XMRV in cell cultures.

Here is the original report:
Raltegravir Is a Potent Inhibitor of XMRV, a Virus Implicated in Prostate Cancer and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Ila R. Singh, John E. Gorzynski, Daria Drobysheva, Leda Bassit, Raymond F. Schinazi
PLoS ONE 5(4): e9948. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009948

They write the following:
Principal Findings
Forty-five compounds, including twenty-eight drugs approved for use in humans, were evaluated against XMRV replication in vitro. We found that the retroviral integrase inhibitor, raltegravir, was potent and selective against XMRV at submicromolar concentrations, in MCF-7 and LNCaP cells, a breast cancer and prostate cancer cell line, respectively. Another integrase inhibitor, L-000870812, and two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, zidovudine (ZDV), and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) also inhibited XMRV replication. When combined, these drugs displayed mostly synergistic effects against this virus, suggesting that combination therapy may delay or prevent the selection of resistant viruses.

You can also read more at:
Powerful HIV drugs inhibit retrovirus linked to prostate cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome
EurekAlert! 1-Apr-2010
Anti-HIV drugs inhibit emerging virus linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome
EurekAlert! 1-Apr-2010

ZenMaster