Tag: Western blot

Japanese patients with chronic fatigue syndrome are negative for known retrovirus infections

Abstract:

Although chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is known to be the syndrome that begins with an acute flu-like illness that may be due to the exposure to an infectious agent, there has been no convincing evidence on the causative agents.

Recently, human T-lymphotropic virus type II (HTLV-II)-like virus has been reported to be associated with the CFS by using HTLV Western blot analysis and polymerase chain reaction. However, some investigators could not detect HTLV-II by indirect immunofluorescence analysis.

Lately, CFS patients have been reported in Japan. We detected all 30 tested patients with CFS were seronegative for HTLV-II, HTLV-I and HIV by specific peptide ELISA and Western blot. Further, PCR analysis was negative for HTLV-II and retrovirus was not detected by coculture method with patients’ PBMC. Thus, known human retrovirus infections do not cause a CFS in Japan.

 

Source: Honda M, Kitamura K, Nakasone T, Fukushima Y, Matsuda S, Nishioka K, Matsuda J, Hashimoto N, Yamazaki S. Japanese patients with chronic fatigue syndrome are negative for known retrovirus infections. Microbiol Immunol. 1993;37(10):779-84. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7507200

 

Retroviral sequences related to human T-lymphotropic virus type II in patients with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome

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.

 

Source: DeFreitas E, Hilliard B, Cheney PR, Bell DS, Kiggundu E, Sankey D, Wroblewska Z, Palladino M, Woodward JP, Koprowski H. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Apr 1;88(7):2922-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC51352/ (Full article)

 

Chronic fatigue syndrome: I. Epstein-Barr virus immune response and molecular epidemiology

Abstract:

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were compared to healthy seropositive control subjects in an open study and a case-control study analyzing spontaneous transformation rates of peripheral blood lymphocytes, EBV viral genome characteristics as determined by DNA restriction fragment polymorphisms, and antibody production by Western blot analysis.

Thirty percent of patients versus 8% of control subjects underwent spontaneous transformation in the two studies. Viral genome patterns were overall similar to one another, with polymorphisms frequently present in BamHI B’, K, H, and Y fragments. Only one line was found with the EBNA-2B genotype.

Nineteen lines were found to contain viral DNA in the linear form suggesting active lytic replication. Western blot studies suggested that ill subjects made antibodies to lytic proteins more frequently than did healthy control subjects. Lack of control of EBV outgrowth in vitro is correlated with antibody evidence of active infection in vivo in some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

 

Source: Jones JF, Streib J, Baker S, Herberger M. Chronic fatigue syndrome: I. Epstein-Barr virus immune response and molecular epidemiology. J Med Virol. 1991 Mar;33(3):151-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1679118