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A Light in the Darkness: Good News Ahead for XMRV?
Cort JohnsonPhoenix Rising 03/26/2010
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/entry.php?303-A-Light-in-the-Darkness-Good-News-Ahead-for-XMRV
A month ago the head Dutch researcher,
Kuppeveld, stated that he considered XMRV story over. After what he
described as an intense effort to find the virus failed he was folding up
shop on it; there would be no more XMRV studies coming out of his lab. No
papers have been published since then but it appears that a decidedly
different story is brewing in Utah. We had heard that the three dozen or so
people who participated in the Light's fascinating exercise study were
brought back to get tested for XMRV. What we didn't know is that that study
has recently been expanded - greatly. Since one thing researchers do not do
is repeat negative studies, the only logical conclusion we can draw is that
enough CFS patients tested positive for XMRV to make a greatly expanded and
obviously much more expensive study worthwhile. These patients, and we don't
know how many were positive, appear to be the first patients who've
tested positive at an independent laboratory.
The XMRV story may be over
in Holland but it appears to be gathering steam in Utah. Luckily, CBS, a
member of the Phoenix Rising Forums is participating in the new study and
was willing to give us some insights into what's happening. First the new
study consists of about 100 CFS patients, hand-picked by Dr. Bateman, and
about 200 healthy controls. Dr. Light appears to a major fundraiser for the
study - plucking money out of every corner he can. Dr. Singh, a noted
retrovirologist already steadying XMRV in prostate cancer, will supervise
the analysis of the samples. ARUP - the research laboratory associated with
the University of Utah - is providing facilities and manpower. When CBS
showed up for his blood draws he stepped into a highly professional
environment. He signed in and rounded the corner to find a hallway full of
techs with stopwatches. As each of approximately 6 vials of blood were
drawn, the gloved phlebotomist immediately handed it to a gloved tech who
set his/her stopwatch and hustled out of the room to the next location. The
collecting receptacles were swabbed with alcohol after each
patient.Dr. Bateman's role in this is interesting. Her video
presentation about XMRV several months ago was notable for her sober
approach to it is and she appeared quite concerned about how well her
patients matched up with the apparently immune dysfunctional patients in the
Science study. Although we can't know for sure it appears that something
has changed in her outlook on XMRV. She stated that all parties were working
around the clock on this. These researchers moved fast - it took them about
a week or two to get and process several hundred samples. They're doing PCR,
antibody and culture tests. CBS expects to get his results in about eight
weeks and the researchers are banking blood as well - so expect more studies
to follow this second study if it works out well.ARUP
and XMRVARUP is by no means an ordinary lab. Employing 2,400 people it is a
'national reference laboratory' that specializes in 'innovative
laboratory research and development. The website states that ARUP
chooses to provide "highly complex and unique lab tests" The
Light/Bateman/Singh/ARUP team will not be looking at one sample multiple
times or testing multiple samples from one patient to get one positive
result. Nor will they accept 'dim bands' on the PCR as positives (a critique
given to the Science paper). This will be a one sample one patient, clearly
defined PCR result study, and logically this is what we should expect over
time as larger, more sophisticated labs further refine XMRV testing
procedures. This is surely what Dr. Peterson meant at the CFSAC meeting when
he said the WPI needed other researchers to pick up the ball and run with
it.Dr. Bateman is well known for her well characterized patients and her
fine-tuned sense of the different subsets present in CFS and FM. She
stated that she believed this study will provide definitive evidence of
how prevalent XMRV is in a broad swath of CFS patients. The Dr's Light (there
are two of them) role in this is intriguing as well. Dr. Alan Light came up
with the scintillating study that found greatly increased receptor levels to
substances like lactic acid in CFS patients. He is a pain researcher, not a
retrovirologist - but it appears that both he and his wife are giving this
study every kind of support that they can. We should be thankful for
researchers that are able to leap over professional boundaries when
needed.The Montoya-Goff Study - CBS is also the patient of Dr.
Montoya's. He noted that Dr. Goff, another celebrated retrovirologist, is
working with the Montoya team in Stanford on his XMRV study - another sign
that XMRV is still alive and well in the research community, at least on
this side of the Atlantic.ARUP and Blood Testing - Please do not try to
get your blood tested at ARUP. Dr. Bateman emphasized that ARUP is not open
for commercial testing of XMRV and does not want to be flooded with requests
for that.Conclusion While we don't have any published papers we do
appear to have the next best thing; signs that several researchers
associated with a reputable independent lab are having success finding this
virus in ME/CFS patients and, in fact, are redoubling their efforts to
look further.
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