XMRV

[SweetLana]

Hi all, haven't found XMRV topic in resources so started a new one.

<a href="http://paulacarnes.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/testing-negative-staying-positive/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://paulacarnes.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/testing-negative-staying-positive/</a>

Hope everyone is well.

Cheers,
Lana

[SweetLana]

Hi all,

here are some good talks on XMRV from researchers Annette Whittemore and Judy Mikovits.

<a href="http://www.gordonmedical.com/aaim_videos.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.gordonmedical.com/aaim_videos.html</a>

Cheers,
Lana

[Barbarian]

Hey Lana,

Been a while! Hope all's good with you and you're continuing to recover <img src="images/smilies/smile.gif" border=0 />

Anyhow, on the subject of XMRV - I really think it will be proved to be a red herring in the end. There just seems to be too much evidence building up against it. Even the most positive scientists only found XMRV in around 67% of CFS patients - why not 100%? And they also found it in a proportion of healthy people! Here's an interesting recent article about the whole fiasco: <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-chronic-fatigue-xmrv-20110317,0,6116823.story" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-chronic-fatigue-xmrv-20110317,0,6116823.story</a>

But like the guy at the end says:

<div class=quote>"It is like Watergate," he said. "You saw the Constitution work. You think, oh my gosh, it works! And this is science working. Science determines the truth. … It always sorts it out in the end."</div>

He's dead right - the science will explain everything eventually.

But this doesn't mean we should be discouraged! In fact recently I saw a much more encouraging study published in the peer-reviewed PLoS ONE about how some unique proteins are showing up in the spinal fluids of CFS patients when compared to healthy volunteers: <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0017287" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0017287</a>

And this time they show up 100% in the CFS patients and 0% in the healthy people. Now that looks like real convincing evidence to me. It might possibly lead to a biomarker diagnostic test for CFS and maybe a pathway for them to pursue further investigations (and eventually a cure??)

Something to keep an eye out for!

Cheers,

B.
<em>edited by Barbarian on 3/19/2011</em>

[Barbarian]

Another study on XMRV - this time they looked for it in the spinal fluid of CFS sufferers. Again, no sign...

<a href="http://www.newswise.com/articles/chronic-fatigue-study-probes-for-xmrv-in-nervous-system" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.newswise.com/articles/chronic-fatigue-study-probes-for-xmrv-in-nervous-system</a>

<div class=quote>This latest finding that XMRV does not appear to be in the spinal fluid of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome comes within weeks of another study published by Schutzer and colleagues [PLoS ONE 6(2): e17287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017287] that analyzed the spinal fluid of the same 43 CFS patients and found 738 proteins in those patients’ fluid that appear to be specific to CFS. The earlier paper compared that group of patients with others who either were healthy controls or had been diagnosed with Lyme disease. The two studies, taken in tandem, strongly suggest that while XMRV does not appear to be directly associated with CFS in the central nervous system, other substances found in spinal fluid do have an association.</div>
I'm kinda intrigued to see what they do actually find causes CFS in the end. Well, of course that's a bit of an understatement!

B.

[Barbarian]

The latest study to refute the connection between XMRV and CFS (published 4th May 2011):

<a href="http://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/current/05411Singh.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/current/05411Singh.html</a>

<div class=quote>New findings from University of Utah School of Medicine researchers show that the retrovirus called XMRV is not present in the blood of patients who have chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). These findings contradict a widely reported 2009 Science study that linked CFS to XMRV.

The study, performed by a team of U of U researchers led by Ila R Singh, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology, was published May 4, 2011, in the Journal of Virology online, and is the most comprehensive to date regarding the purported link between chronic fatigue syndrome and XMRV.</div>
Link to study in the Journal of Virology: <a href="http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/JVI.00693-11v1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/JVI.00693-11v1</a>

[Barbarian]

So it really does seem like XMRV was a red herring after all. The latest studies again refute the original findings. The journal Science asked Judy Mikovits to retract her paper but she declined. They may eventually override her and retract it themselves but for the time being they have just issued an '<i>expression of concern</i>'.

But this shouldn't be seen as disheartening. As a scientist myself I know that there's no conspiracy going on here, it's just normal science at work - if the evidence doesn't fit then the theory's wrong. So, XMRV is ruled out - on to the next hypothesis!

<a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110603/full/news.2011.347.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110603/full/news.2011.347.html</a>

<div class=quote>In Britain, the MRC (Medical Research Council) is accepting research proposals for a new programme devoted exclusively to CFS. The goal of the programme is to draw top-notch scientists into the field, says Stephen Holgate, an immunopharmacologist at the University of Southampton School of Medicine, UK. "Part of the difficulty is that we don't have very many good scientists working in the field," he says.

Proposals for the £1.5-million programme, due by 7 June, must include at least one scientist who does not currently work on CFS. "I know it's small fry, but at least it's a start," says Holgate. "We want a fresh view." </div>
We'll get there in the end <img src="images/smilies/wink.gif" border=0 />

B.
<em>edited by Barbarian on 6/3/2011</em>