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M.E. (and ICD-CFS) Articles, Research and Books 
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Research topics: General Articles and Research Overviews, Immune System Research, Viral Research, Cardiac Research, Exercise Research, Muscle Research, Metabolic Research, Neurological and Cognitive Research, Genetic Research, Neuroendocrine Research, and Miscellaneous Research.
Article topics: The Definitions of M.E., On 'fatigue', CBT, GET and the unscientific 'behavioural' paradigm of M.E., On 'stress', M.E. Outbreaks, On the Name Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, M.E. and Other Illnesses, Children with M.E., The Severity of M.E., M.E. Fatalities, Activism Articles, Articles sorted by Author, Articles sorted by Country and Historical, Political and Medical Overviews.
Topic on this page: Enteroviral and Post Polio Syndrome Research, HHV6 Research, Stealth Virus Research, General Viral Research and Relevant Books - page 5 of 5
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Stealth Virus Research
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African green monkey origin of the atypical cytopathic 'stealth virus' isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome. Martin WJ, Ahmed KN, Zeng LC, Olsen JC, Seward JG, Seehrai JS. Clinical and Diagnostic Virology 1995; 4: 93-103.
Stealth virus epidemic in the Mohave Valley. Initial report of virus isolation. Martin WJ, Anderson D. Pathobiology 1997; 65(1): 51-56.
Abstract: Increasing numbers of patients within the Mohave Valley region of the United States are reporting symptoms attributable to atypical neurological illness. Many of these patients have experienced an acute-onset gastrointestinal illness during the spring and summer of 1996. Stealth viral cultures performed on the blood of 40 of these patients have been uniformly positive, yielding unequivocal transmissible cytopathic effect (CPE) in both human- and monkey-derived cell lines. One patient has died from a stealth-CPE-positive glioblastoma, while another patient has developed a plemorphic adenoma of the parotid. Viral cultures and epidemiological data support human-to-human, and probable human-to-dog, transmission of the Mohave stealth virus infection.
Acute encephalopathy induced in cats with a stealth virus isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome. Martin WJ, Glass RT. Pathobiology 1995; 63: 115-118.
Abstract: A simian cytomegalovirus-related stealth virus, isolated from a patient with the chronic fatigue syndrome, induced an acute neurological illness when inoculated into cats. Histological examination of brain tissue showed foci of cells with cytoplasmic vacuolization and an absence of any inflammatory reaction. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of herpes-like viral particles and viral-like products in the brain of an inoculated animal. These findings support the role of stealth viruses in the pathogenesis of human neurological diseases and provide an animal model to evaluate potential antiviral therapy.
Detection of RNA sequences in cultures of a stealth virus isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of a health care worker with chronic fatigue syndrome. Martin WJ. Case report. Pathobiology 1997; 65(1): 57-60.
Abstract: A cytopathic stealth virus was cultured from the cerebrospinal fluid of a nurse with chronic fatigue syndrome. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed on the patient's culture yielded positive results with primer sets based on sequences of a previously isolated African green monkey simian-cytomegalovirus-derived stealth virus. The same primer sets did not yield PCR products when tested directly on DNA extracted from the cultures. The findings lend support to the possibility of replicative RNA forms of certain stealth viruses and have important implications concerning the choice of therapy in this type of patient.
Simian cytomegalovirus-related stealth virus isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of a patient with bipolar psychosis and acute encephalopathy. Martin WJ. Pathobiology 1996; 64(2): 64-6.
Abstract: A cytopathic 'stealth' virus was cultured from the cerebrospinal fluid of a patient with a bipolar psychotic disorder who developed a severe encephalopathy leading to a vegetative state. DNA sequencing of a polymerase chain reaction-amplified product from infected cultures has identified the virus as an African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus (SCMV)-related stealth virus. The virus is similar to the SCMV-related stealth virus isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome. The findings support the concepts that stealth viruses can account for a spectrum of dysfunctional brain diseases and that some of these viruses may have arisen from live polio viral vaccines.
Severe stealth-virus encephalopathy following chronic-fatigue-syndrome-like illness: clinical and histopathological features. Martin WJ. Pathobiology 1996; 64(1): 1-8.
Abstract: The clinical histories and brain biopsy findings of 3 patients with severe stealth virus encephalopathy are reviewed. The patients initially developed symptoms consistent with a chronic fatigue syndrome. One patient has remained in a vegetative state for several years, while the other 2 patients have shown significant, although incomplete, recovery. Histological and electron-microscopic studies revealed vacuolated cells with distorted nuclei and various cytoplasmic inclusions suggestive of incomplete viral expression. There was no significant inflammatory response. Viral cultures provided further evidence of stealth viral infections occurring in these patients.
Genetic instability and fragmentation of a stealth viral genome. Martin WJ. Pathobiology 1996; 64(1): 9-17.
Abstract: Partial sequencing was performed on cloned DNA obtained from cultures of a stealth virus isolated from a patient with the chronic fatigue syndrome. The results extend earlier findings showing regions of homology to cytomegalovirus (CMV). Although the virus is much more closely related to simian CMV than to human CMV, many of the cloned viral segments could be aligned with the human CMV genome. The aggregate size of the aligned segments exceeds 100 kilobase pairs (kbp). Undigested viral DNA has a mobility in agarose gel electrophoresis corresponding to approximately 20 kbp. The virus, therefore, apparently exists in multiple fragments. Considerable sequence variation exists between individual clones which overlap to similar regions of the human CMV genome. The fragmented genome and sequence microheterogeneity suggest that both the processivity and the fidelity of replication of the viral genome are defective. An unstable viral genome may provide a potential mechanism of recovery from stealth viral illness.
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General Viral Research
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The postviral fatigue syndrome - an analysis of the findings in 50 cases. Behan PO, et al. Journal of Infection 1985; 10: 211-22.
Abstract: The clinical, pathological, electrophysiological, immunological and virological abnormalities in 50 patients with the postviral fatigue syndrome are recorded. These findings confirm the organic nature of the disease. A metabolic disorder, caused by persistent virus infection and associated with defective immunoregulation, is suggested as the pathogenetic mechanism.
Retroviral sequences related to human T-lymphotropic virus type II in patients with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome. DeFreitas E, Hilliard B, Cheney PR, Bell DS, Kiggundu E, Sankey D, Wroblewska Z, Palladino M, Woodward JP, Koprowski H. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1991; 88(7): 2922-6.
Abstract: Chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is a recently recognized illness characterized by debilitating fatigue as well as immunological and neurological abnormalities [Straus, S.E. (1988) J. Inf. Dis. 157, 405-412]. Once thought to be caused by Epstein-Barr virus, it is now thought to have a different but unknown etiology. We evaluated 30 adult and pediatric CFIDS patients from six eastern states for the presence of human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II by Western immunoblotting, polymearse chain reaction, and in situ hybridization of blood samples. The majority of patients were positive for HTLV antibodies by Western blotting and for HTLV-II gag sequences by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. Twenty nonexposure healthy controls were negative in all assays. These data support an association between an HTLV-II-like virus and CFIDS.
Cytomegalovirus-related sequence in an atypical cytopathic virus repeatedly isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome. Martin WJ, Zeng LC, Ahmed K, Roy M. American Journal of Pathology 1994; 145(2): 440-51.
Abstract: An atypical virus, cytopathic for human and animal fibroblasts, was repeatedly cultured from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome. Viral particles, suggestive of cytomegalovirus (CMV) were seen by electron microscopy. Infected cells did not, however, stain with antisera specific for CMV, herpes, simplex virus, or human herpes-virus-6. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for these viruses were also negative. Two distinct products of approximately 1.5 kilobase pairs were amplified from virally infected cells using the human T lymphotropic virus-II tax gene reactive primer, SK44, in low stringency PCR. Sequencing of one of the amplified products showed a region of highly significant partial homology with the UL34 gene of CMV. The sequence of the other PCR product did not correspond with CMV or any other virus. DNA was extracted from the material pelleted by ultracentrifugation of filtered culture supernatants. It migrated in agarose gels as a single band of approximately 20 kpb. The banded DNA was digested with EcoRI and cloned. A 2.2 kbp plasmid containing the CMV-related sequence identified within the PCR product was recovered. Sequencing of this plasmid extended the region of partial sequence homology with CMV to include a portion of the UL35 gene of CMV. Initial sequencing of additional plasmids has confirmed the partial relatedness to CMV. The data indicate a novel type of CMV-related "stealth" virus that is able to establish a clinically persistent human infection.
Biochemical and muscle studies in patients with acute onset post-viral fatigue syndrome. Preedy VR, Smith DG, Salisbury JR, Peters TJ. Journal of Clinical Pathology 1993; 46(8): 722-6.
Abstract : AIMS-To investigate in detail various biochemical and pathophysiological indices of muscle pathology in acute onset post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS). METHODS-Twenty three patients with PVFS (of mean duration 4.6 years) were subjected to needle biopsy for histomorphometry and total RNA contents. Plasma analysis included serology and creatine kinase activities. Indices of whole body mass were also measured-namely, whole body potassium content and plasma carnosinase activities. RESULTS-About 80% of the patients had serology indicative of persistent enteroviral infection as determined by VP1 antigen assay. Only about 10% of that same group of patients had serological indications of current enterovirus infection by IgM assay; a separate subset of 10% showed antibody changes suggestive of reactivation of Epstein-Barr virus. Quantitative morphometric analysis of skeletal muscle fibres indicated that the quadriceps muscle was normal or displayed only minor abnormalities in 22 patients. The Quetelet's Index (body mass index) and whole-body potassium values (index of lean body mass) were not affected in PVFS. The mean plasma carnosinase and creatinine kinase activities were also generally normal in these patients. The mean muscle RNA composition-mg RNA/mg DNA-was significantly reduced in acute onset PVFS by about 15%. The protein:DNA ratio was not significantly affected. CONCLUSIONS-Patients with acute onset PVFS, therefore, lose muscle protein synthetic potential, but not muscle bulk. Histopathology is consistent with these observations. These perturbations may contribute to the apparent feature of perceived muscle weakness associated with the persistent viral infection in the muscle themselves.
Antibody responses to Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 6 and human herpesvirus 7 in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Sairenji T, Yamanishi K, Tachibana Y, Bertoni G, Kurata T. Intervirology 1995; 38(5): 269-73.
Abstract : To test for an association between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and infections with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7), antibodies to these viruses were tested in the serum from three groups of individuals: (1) 10 CFS patients with chronic fatigue beginning with a clinical pattern of acute infectious mononucleosis [IM; true chronic IM (CIM)]; (2) 10 CFS patients whose illness did not start with acute IM (non-CIM), and (3) healthy controls. High EBV antibody titers were demonstrated in most patients. Antibodies to ZEBRA, a product of the immediate early EBV gene BZLF1, were detected in the serum of CFS patients at a higher frequency than in healthy controls. Antibody titers to HHV-6 and HHV-7 were also higher in the patients with CFS than in the controls. These results are consistent with the view that CFS patients may have reactivations of EBV, HHV-6 and HHV-7.
Ill defined neurological diseases of possible viral origin. Sutton RNP. Postgraduate Medical Journal 1978; 54; 747-51.
Summary : Any approach towards elucidating the aetiology of an ill defined disease such as 'epidemic neuromyasthenia' has to be a comprehensive and wide-ranging one. Although viruses must be strong candidates, by reason of their ubiquity, this need not necessarily be the case and we have recently seen the onset of Legionnaires' disease as a new entity caused by a bacterium. We do not always recognize that a particular virus may affect the entire community and that the patient seen in hospital may represent only the tip of the submerged iceberg and that, in closed communities more of the iceberg will be seen. Silent viral epidemics are probably frequent and may only be recognized in retrospect. As an example the recent epidemic with adenovirus type 7 will be alluded to. Possible variations in virus and, to a lesser extent, in the host which could modify the course of an individual infection are discussed.
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Relevant Books
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Hard copies of the Canadian Guidelines are available for purchase from Haworth Press
*O* What is ME? What is CFS? Information for Clinicians and Lawyers (Online format and printed format) by Professor Malcolm Hooper, Margaret Williams and Eileen Marshall
Available as a free PDF download
Note: Links given with certain book titles are for informational purposes only and are not recommendations of any particular book seller. It is recommended that you shop around for the best prices at a number of stores for any books you might wish to purchase.
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Previous pages...
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Page 1: Enteroviral and Post-polio Research
Page 2: Enteroviral and Post-polio Research (continued)
Page 3: Enteroviral and Post-polio Research (continued)
Page 4: HHV6 Research
Page 5: Stealth Virus Research, General Virus Research and Relevant Books
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