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STUDY PUBLISHED IN PNAS LINKS CFS TO POLYTROPIC MURINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS-RELATED VIRUSES

(This page is a supplement to the XMRV resource page.)

The much anticipated report from a group of collaborating researchers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) was published online on August 23, 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This study reports a strong association with murine leukemia virus-related viruses (MLVs), with 32 of 37 (86.5%) CFS patients testing positive for MLV sequences compared to 3 of 44 (6.8%) of healthy blood donors. The authors state, “Our results clearly support the central argument by Lombardi et al. that MLV-related viruses are associated with CFS and are present in some blood donors.” However, the strains of MLVs detected by this research team are different from the ones reported last year in Science. The "early edition" of PNAS (Sept. 30, 2010) included letters from Erlwein et al. and Martin about the FDA/NIH/Harvard study. A response from Lo et al. was also published. At the conclusion of the response, Lo and colleagues state, "Our recent collaborative studies with a National Cancer Institute group have shown that we can detect antibodies in most patients with CFS with positive gag sequences and not in most PCR-negative subjects; studies on virus isolation are presently in progress. As we stated in the Discussion of our study (3), these and many other studies will be needed to better understand the true nature of association between murine retroviruses and CFS."

The full text of the following CFS-related articles appear in the August 23, 2010 PNAS issue posted online:

Figure from Courgnaud et al.

This package of PNAS articles is densely packed with information that will likely intensify discussion and debate about the association between CFS and this family of retroviruses, that includes XMRV. To help site visitors make sense of this material, the CFIDS Association has prepared the following resources:

  • Q&A With Experts: We requested answers from a range of experts familiar with the study, the emerging field of research into XMRV and other murine leukemia retroviruses, blood safety issues and the related media coverage.
  • “Another Turn of the Retrovirus Kaleidoscope” by K. Kimberly McCleary, CFIDS Association president & CEO. This article is part summary, part analysis. It describes the study’s findings and provides a history of how the collaboration unfolded across 15 years.
  • "What Comes Next?" by Suzanne D. Vernon, PhD, CFIDS Association scientific director. In this commentary, Dr. Vernon provides her perspective about how the latest discoveries can help advance diagnosis and treatment.
  • “Comparison of XMRV/MLV Data in CFS.” This chart, published first in the spring/summer 2010 issue of SolveCFS, is updated to reflect data from the seven studies of MLVs in CFS reported in peer-reviewed publications.
  • A pictorial essay that attempts to describe the relationships between XMRV, MLVs and gammaretroviruses using simple terms and photos of citrus fruit.

Listed below are links to major outlets’ articles about this study, updated regularly. This is an exciting time and all of us at the Association are working hard to keep you well-informed about the latest developments and news. Please visit our XMRV Resource Page for a complete list of materials.

Events Relevant to this Study:

  • Sept. 7-8, 2010: First International Workshop on XMRV. Sponsored by NIH and Abbott Virology, this two-day meeting brought together more than 200 individuals engaged in XMRV research for plenary sessions and presentations of new data.
  • Sept. 16, 2010: CFS & the Viral Connection. Dr. Anthony Komaroff, a long-time CFS clinical researcher and a collaborator on the study published in PNAS, describes the many agents that have been associated with CFS over time, including XMRV and MLVs, in this webinar program.
  • Oct. 12-14, 2010: Department of Health & Human Services CFS Advisory Committee Meeting. The first day of the meeting was dedicated to the science of CFS; days two and three will allow the committee time to hear federal agency presentations, public testimony and subcommittee reports, as well as to make recommendations to the Secretary of Health. Dr. Stuart Legrice of the National Cancer Institute summarized the XMRV workshop and the NIH's intramural studies of XMRV and murine leukemia virus-related viruses.

Links to Additional Materials About This Study:

Several of these stories have been run by other news agencies, sometimes with minor modifications or under different headlines. This list reflects only the English-language articles; there has been coverage in French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Dutch, German, Austrian and Russian-language news media as well.

Updated most recently on Jan. 5, 2011