title: Retroviral sequences related to human T-lymphotropic virus type II in patients with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome.
abstract: Chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is a recently recognized illness characterized by debilitating fatigue as well as immunological and neurological abnormalities [Straus, S.E. (1988) J. Inf. Dis. 157, 405-412]. Once thought to be caused by Epstein-Barr virus, it is now thought to have a different but unknown etiology. We evaluated 30 adult and pediatric CFIDS patients from six eastern states for the presence of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II by Western immunoblotting, polymearse chain reaction, and in situ hybridization of blood samples. The majority of patients were positive for HTLV antibodies by Western blotting and for HTLV-II gag sequences by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. Twenty nonexposure healthy controls were negative in all assays. These data support an association between an HTLV-II-like virus and CFIDS.
authors.affiliation: Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: DeFreitas
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hilliard
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Cheney
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiggundu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sankey
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wroblewska
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palladino
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koprowski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000235:genetics; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007154:Immune System Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015480:Deltaretrovirus Antibodies; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger