title: Failure to confirm XMRV/MLVs in the blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a multi-laboratory study.
abstract: Murine leukemia viruses (MLVs), including xenotropic-MLV-related virus (XMRV), have been controversially linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). To explore this issue in greater depth, we compiled coded replicate samples of blood from 15 subjects previously reported to be XMRV/MLV-positive (14 with CFS) and from 15 healthy donors previously determined to be negative for the viruses. These samples were distributed in a blinded fashion to nine laboratories, which performed assays designed to detect XMRV/MLV nucleic acid, virus replication, and antibody. Only two laboratories reported evidence of XMRV/MLVs; however, replicate sample results showed disagreement, and reactivity was similar among CFS subjects and negative controls. These results indicate that current assays do not reproducibly detect XMRV/MLV in blood samples and that blood donor screening is not warranted.
authors.affiliation: Blood Systems Research Institute and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Simone A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Glynn
authors.forename: Anthony L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Komaroff
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mikovits
authors.forename: Leslie H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Tobler
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Switzer
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heneine
authors.forename: Indira K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Hewlett
authors.forename: Jiangqin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Shyh-Ching
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Harvey J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Alter
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Linnen
authors.forename: Kui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Coffin
authors.forename: Mary F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kearney
authors.forename: Francis W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Ruscetti
authors.forename: Max A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pfost
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bethel
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kleinman
authors.forename: Jerry A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Holmberg
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Busch
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001769:Blood / Q000821:virology*; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D002460:Cell Line; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000821:virology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014766:Viremia; D014779:Virus Replication; D058008:Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral