Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1213841
Failure to Confirm XMRV/MLVs in the Blood of Patients with Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome: A Multi-Laboratory Study
Graham Simmons1 , Simone A. Glynn2, Anthony L. Komaroff3, Judy A.
Mikovits4, Leslie H. Tobler1, John Hackett Jr.5, Ning Tang5, William
M. Switzer6, Walid Heneine6, Indira K. Hewlett7, Jiangqin Zhao7,
Shyh-Ching Lo8, Harvey J. Alter9, Jeffrey M. Linnen10, Kui Gao10, John
M. Coffin11, Mary F. Kearney12, Francis W. Ruscetti12, Max A. Pfost4,
James Bethel13, Steven Kleinman14, Jerry A. Holmberg15, Michael P.
Busch1,*, for the Blood XMRV Scientific Research Working Group (SRWG)=E2=80=
=A0
1Blood Systems Research Institute and University of California, San
Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA.
2Transfusion Medicine and Cellular Therapeutics Branch, National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
3Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women=E2=80=99s Hospital, Boston M=
A
02115, USA.
4Whittemore Peterson Institute and University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, US=
A.
5Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL 60064, USA.
6Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, CDC, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
7Office of Blood Research, FDA, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
8Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Review, FDA, Bethesda,
MD 20892, USA.
9Department of Transfusion Medicine, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
10Gen-Probe, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
11Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University,
Boston, MA 02111, USA.
12National Cancer Institute=E2=80=93Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
13Westat, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
14University of British Columbia, Victoria, BC, Canada.
15U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mbusch@bloodsystems.or=
g
Abstract
Murine leukemia viruses (MLV), 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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