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Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from chronic fatigue syndrome patients for multiple human ubiquitous viruses and xenotropic murine leukemia‐related virus
Author(s) -
Schutzer Steven E.,
Rounds Megan A.,
Natelson Benjamin H.,
Ecker David J.,
Eshoo Mark W.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.22389
Subject(s) - cerebrospinal fluid , chronic fatigue syndrome , retrovirus , virus , leukemia , polymerase chain reaction , virology , immunology , medicine , pathology , biology , gene , genetics
Abstract Recent reports showed many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) harbor a retrovirus, xenotropic murine leukemia‐related virus (XMRV), in blood; other studies could not replicate this finding. A useful next step would be to examine cerebrospinal fluid, because in some patients CFS is thought to be a brain disorder. Finding a microbe in the central nervous system would have greater significance than in blood because of the integrity of the blood–brain barrier. We examined cerebrospinal fluid from 43 CFS patients using polymerase chain reaction techniques, but did not find XMRV or multiple other common viruses, suggesting that exploration of other causes or pathogenetic mechanisms is warranted. Ann Neurol 2011;