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Retrovirus Found in ME patients

Published 23.10.2009 , updated: 23.10.2009, 15:01

 

U.S. scientists have discovered the retrovirus XMRV in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME). It is too early to draw broad conclusions, but the findings can in the long term have implications for prevention and treatment of disease.

 

On 8 October the renowned scientific journal Science announced that a group of American researchers has found genetic material (DNA) from a virus in white blood cells in a group of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). 68 of 101 (67%) patients who were included in the survey had the virus while only 8 of 218 (3.7%) healthy controls had it. The researchers also found that the white blood cells from patients could transmit the virus to a cell culture of other white blood cells.

 

“We think this is a very interesting discovery, "says director Geir Stene-Larsen. “If this virus is contributing to some people developing ME, it may have great significance for the possibilities to prevent and treat the illness. But it is important to emphasise that this is still at a research stage. The U.S. study was small, only 101 patients, and there still remains much research to be done before we can draw some conclusions about the effect the virus has on the development of ME. But this is a field of research which we will follow with great interest the future, "he says.

 

Stene-Larsen emphasises that ME is a serious disorder. It is estimated that 17 million people worldwide are affected and many of the sick have a greatly reduced quality of life. It is a disease we know little about. Therefore, any new knowledge is valuable.

 

 

See the original statement in Norwegian - click on flag

 


Last Update: 27 October 2009




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