title: No evidence of murine-like gammaretroviruses in CFS patients previously identified as XMRV-infected.
abstract: Members of the gammaretroviruses--such as murine leukemia viruses (MLVs), most notably XMRV [xenotropic murine leukemia virus (X-MLV)-related virus--have been reported to be present in the blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). We evaluated blood samples from 61 patients with CFS from a single clinical practice, 43 of whom had previously been identified as XMRV-positive. Our analysis included polymerase chain reaction and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction procedures for detection of viral nucleic acids and assays for detection of infectious virus and virus-specific antibodies. We found no evidence of XMRV or other MLVs in these blood samples. In addition, we found that these gammaretroviruses were strongly (X-MLV) or partially (XMRV) susceptible to inactivation by sera from CFS patients and healthy controls, which suggested that establishment of a successful MLV infection in humans would be unlikely. Consistent with previous reports, we detected MLV sequences in commercial laboratory reagents. Our results indicate that previous evidence linking XMRV and MLVs to CFS is likely attributable to laboratory contamination.
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Viral Research Group, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Konstance
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knox
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carrigan
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Teque
authors.forename: Yanchen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.forename: Xiaoxing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Ka-Cheung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Luk
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schochetman
authors.forename: Allyn
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knox
authors.forename: Andreas M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kogelnik
authors.forename: Jay A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D059018:DNA Contamination; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004340:Drug Contamination; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D058008:Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D003165:Complement System Proteins