by admin on December 27, 2011
Just fours days after the editors of Science took it upon themselves to retract the 2008 Science paper, Lo/Alter, the authors of the FDA study at one time championed as proof that a family of XMRV-like viruses was present in ME/CFS, have retracted their PNAS findings as well.
In their conclusion to be published next week they stated
Although a more definitive, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)–sponsored, coded panel of samples from 150 well-characterized and geographically diverse CFS patients and controls is being assembled for further study, in consideration of the aggregate data from our own laboratory and that of others, it is our current view that the association of murine gamma retroviruses with CFS has not withstood the test of time or of independent verification and that this association is now tenuous.
… Read More
by admin on December 23, 2011
(My apologies! (Another CFS moment…) The last blog contained a draft on the first story – not the completed version. Thanks for your patience….)
When it rains it pours. Events regarding XMRV, Dr. Mikovits and the WPI have come hot and heavy during the last week.
WPI’s Civil Lawsuit Against Dr. Mikovits - First some background. Dr. Mikovits was terminated from the WPI in late Sept for refusing to share a cell line with Dr. Lombardi. According to spokesperson from the WPI’s legal team Dr. Mikovits was terminated not because she refused to share her cell line with Dr. Lombardi, as has been reported, but because she took a cell line that had been addressed and sent to Dr.… Read More
by admin on November 26, 2011
In Part II of the XMRV section of the conference we look at the Coffin/Mikovits presentations, Hanson’s update on her XMRV work and look at the recent XMRV research findings.
The pMLVs Strike Out – Hanson Disavows Former Results
“The sensitivity of the PCR assays used requires extreme caution in interpreting results
Dr. Maureen Hanson”
Background – Dr. Hanson’s was one of two labs (Lo/Alter) to find not XMRV but closely related murine leukemia viruses called pMLV’s, in CFS blood samples. Dr. Mikovits heralded the findings as proof that a family of murine leukemia viruses were present in chronic fatigue syndrome but the their similarity to endogenous retroviruses raised a red flag.… Read More
by admin on November 25, 2011
Pt. IA: XMRV: the Big Test – the Blood Working Study (Taken From the Ottawa Conference/CFIDS Association Webinar)
The Blood Working Group was a large group (25) made of federal officials from various agencies (CDC, NIH, FDA), the Red Cross, several laboratories including the WP, several Universities and put together just a month after the XMRV Science paper published in Oct 2009.
The CAA brought together three members of the BWG – none of whom were employed by the federal government to explain the results in their latest webinar. They were Graham Simmons, PhD of Blood Systems Research Institute, Michael Busch, MD, PhD of Blood Systems Research Institute, Steven Kleinman, BSc, MD of University of British Columbia
The culmination of the BWG’s efforts was a blinded test involving 9 well known labs including the WPI, Abbot, two FDA labs (including Lo/Alter), the NCI Ruscetti lab and Gen-Probe that examined 15 CFS patients from the WPI and Lo/Alter and X controls.… Read More
by admin on October 5, 2011
The Mikovits era at the WPI was turbulent one, filled with almost Shakespearean highs and lows. With the discovery of XMRV she helped bring a degree of excitement and attention to the chronic fatigue syndrome field it never seen before. It was and is an turbulent time, and perhaps fittingly her departure was a turbulent one as well – with the WPI stating that she was terminated over a disagreement over whether to share samples with other researchers.
An Exciting Start – Working in a major NIH lab lead by Dr. Frank Ruscetti, Dr. Mikovits had impeccable credentials. Her willingness to take on research in a controversial field can’t be overstated, and once in it, she became an ardent advocate, demonstrating a high degree of passion.… Read More
by admin on June 27, 2011
Dr. Cheney was an enthusiastic supporter of the XMRV finding early on; he did a webcast on it and several blogs, suggested treatments and provided patients for the WPI to study. In this post from Jan Van Roijen on Co-cure Dr. Cheney reveals the latest on the Lipkin study from a conference call with Dr. Lipkin.
The fact that he – an important ME/CFS physician and thinker – who is not involved with the trials, was on the conference call demonstrates Dr. Lipkin’s commitment to get many of the major elements of the CFS community involved.
What did we learn? The Lipkin study has not officially ‘begun’; ie it has not started collecting samples but is about to, and yes, Dr.… Read More
by admin on June 26, 2011
The National Cancer Institute jumped in early on the XMRV discovery and has probably funded more research into the retrovirus than any other Institute but two weeks ago they were the first NIH Institute to definitively say that XMRV did not play a role in CFS or prostate cancer.
Now the NIH’s update of their website is concluding much the same thing – while leaving themselves some wiggle room. Their website now states that XMRV appears to be a contaminant and then, in a bit stronger language, “The body of evidence now indicates that XMRV does not play a role in ME/CFS.d”
What does this turnabout mean for the two NIH studies?… Read More
by admin on March 20, 2011
This long interview may be difficult for some. In it Dr. Satterfield presents evidence which he believes suggests that XMRV will probably not work out. We’ve had this interview sitting in our laps for about 2 1/12 weeks during which we tried to get a response from the WPI . They, however, are too busy and when their Public Relations office was unable to give us a timeline for a response, we decided to publish it.
This interview does not support a finding we would all love to have work out but Phoenix Rising is committed to as complete a view of CFS research as we can muster.…
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by admin on March 7, 2011
A New Center - Much research and discussion now is not centered around XMRV but around a prostate cancer cell line called 22RV1. More than anything else this cell line that is what is causing problems for XMRV.
The 22RV1 cell line was created in 1999 in response to a need to study prostate cancer – a major cause of male mortality. Creating the cell line involved ‘passaging’ prostate cancer cells through nude mice tissues. At some point researchers were able to create a ‘cell-line’, a group of cells they could use to reliably grow prostate cancer cells and study them.… Read More
