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Comparative Study
. 2011 Nov 11;334(6057):814-7.
doi: 10.1126/science.1213841. Epub 2011 Sep 22.

Failure to confirm XMRV/MLVs in the blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a multi-laboratory study

Graham Simmons  1 , Simone A Glynn, Anthony L Komaroff, Judy A Mikovits, Leslie H Tobler, John Hackett Jr, Ning Tang, William M Switzer, Walid Heneine, Indira K Hewlett, Jiangqin Zhao, Shyh-Ching Lo, Harvey J Alter, Jeffrey M Linnen, Kui Gao, John M Coffin, Mary F Kearney, Francis W Ruscetti, Max A Pfost, James Bethel, Steven Kleinman, Jerry A Holmberg, Michael P Busch; Blood XMRV Scientific Research Working Group (SRWG)
Collaborators, Affiliations
Comparative Study

Failure to confirm XMRV/MLVs in the blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a multi-laboratory study

Graham Simmons et al. Science. .

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.

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References

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