“The XMRV retrovirus does not act like HIV.”
HIV is a lentivirus (not a gamma-retrovirus); HIV replicates well in immune cells (thus wiping out the T-Helper cells) – XMRV does not.
HIV produces high viral loads in immune cells but XMRV produces such low viral loads it’s quite difficult to find it using PCR. HIV’s genes essentially hijack the DNA machinery of T-cells. They force it to become an HIV replication factory! Obviously XMRV doesn’t act that way at all or it wouldn’t be so difficult to find in scientific studies.
A recent study indicated that XMRV simply doesn’t have the genes (think software) needed to turn immune cells into XMRV replication factories. Given that it’s not surprising that XMRV levels are very low in immune cells of the blood (PBMC’s) and that it’s very difficult to get XMRV to replicate in them.)
Dr. Judy Mikovits of WPI (Whittemore Peterson Institute) says this likely causes 3 different kinds of problems: (my interpretation summarized as follows)
- 1) That XMRV retroviruses insert themselves into the regions of the human genome that control gene activity, likely to cause a lot of mischief at the least, disease at the worst.
- 2) When an XMRV virally infected cell puts a viral protein (called an antigen) on it’s outer coat to signal the immune system that it’s been infected, a kind of cascade of events happens. Then… a chronic, unresolved retroviral infection shows up resulting in dysfunctional T- cells – a process that’s been termed immune exhaustion. Sound familiar? Are you thinking what I’m thinking that this sounds like the main symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
- 3) The question of cancer. Evidence for increased cancer rates in CFS patients in general is not there yet. However, some figures have been reported from one locality, an online death registry for self-reported chronic fatigue syndrome patients and from a few anecdotal reports. More study is definitely needed if XMRV causes havoc in the genes.
AN IMPORTANT HORMONE QUESTION – scientists at WPI… use hormones to stimulate the virus in their cells to grow – an intriguing factor given the increased prevalence of this disease in middle-aged women, the HPA axis findings in the disorder and the finding of XMRV in the prostate – a hormone sensitive tissue. Dr. Mikovits’s mentioned androgens, cortisol, progesterone and testosterone but left the door open for other hormones. She also mentioned the many estrogen-like products in our modern world.
There’s more. Lots more. I encourage you to read the entire article, XMRV the Virus and get up to speed on how XMRV is not like HIV, but could be affecting your health and your symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome just as badly.
Thanks, Cinda Crawford
Host of the Health Matters Show
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