Studies on Enterovirus in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract

A large study on 121 patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) that examined muscle biopsy samples for enterovirus by means of polymerase chain reaction analysis was carried out. The results were compared with those obtained from 101 muscle biopsy specimens from patients with a variety of other neuromuscular disorders (OND), including neurogenic atrophies, dystrophies, and mitochondrial, metabolic, and endocrine myopathies. Thirty-two (26.4%) of the biopsy specimens from the group of patients with CFS were positive, compared with 20 (19.8%) from the group of patients with OND, a difference that was not significant. This finding is in contrast to those of our previous smaller study in which significantly more patients with CFS than control subjects (53% [32 of 60] vs. 15% [6 of 41]) had enterovirus RNA sequences in their muscle. It was concluded that it is unlikely that persistent enterovirus infection plays a pathogenetic role in CFS, although an effect in initiating the disease process cannot be excluded.

Phylogenetic analysis of short enteroviral sequences from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

“…The sequence although very short (approx. 80 bp) demonstrated a high degree of homology with the enteroviral sequences obtained from the CFS patients presented here (data not shown) and dissimilar to the known coxsackie B viruses (Gow et al, 1994). This may provide corroborating evidence for the presence of a novel type of enterovirus associated with CFS.…”

“…The percentage of CFS patients with laboratory findings indicative of enterovirus presence differs from study to study Gow et al, 1991Gow et al, , 1994. Serological studies in particular have yielded contradictory evidence for enteroviral association with CFS (Miller et al, 1991;Yousef et al, 1988) and there has never been a direct link made between any particular enterovirus type and CFS.…”

“…It is worth noting that the enteroviral sequences obtained from patients without CFS were dissimilar to the sequences obtained from the CFS patients and close to the published sequences of coxsackieviruses and echoviruses. In addition, Gow et al (1994) have recently published a short enteroviral sequence identified from a muscle biopsy from a CFS patient. The sequence although very short (approx.…”

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Viral Infections

“…The role of enteroviruses in the pathogenesis of CFS, an old saga, has been largely disputed The detection, over a long period of time, of enterovirus structural proteins (VP-1 in sera) and enterovirus RNA in the muscle biopsy specimens of patients with CFS is disturbing (Douche-Aourik, 2003). Gow (Gow et al, 1994) investigated a large number of muscle biopsies from patients with either CFS or neuromuscular disorders and demonstrated the presence of enteroviral RNA by RT-PCR in 26.4% and 19.8% of samples respectively. It is necessary to demonstrate enterovirus within the muscle fibres by in situ PCR to prove that viral persistence alters the metabolism of the cells and thus show that such abnormalities cause clinical symptoms (Dalakas, 2003).…”

Borna Disease Virus Infection in Two Family Clusters of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

“…The etiology of CFS is unknown, but the symptoms as above are often thought to be a sequela of viral infection (17). This syndrome has been discussed in terms of its association with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (39), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) (20,32,43), and coxsackie B virus (12,44 been unsuccessful. Although the prevalence of BDV in CFS patients seems quite low, this could be due to heterogeneous symptoms associated with the syndrome, possibly involving several agents.…”