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Stanford study on Anellovirus-Relevant to Lipkin's findings?

Ruthie24

Senior Member
Messages
219
Location
New Mexico, USA
http://engineering.stanford.edu/new...ious-virus-could-be-signal-weak-immune-system

Given that Ian Lipkin found anellovirus in a large percentage of the samples he looked at, wondering if this isn't relevant to us as well. Maybe he could go back and look at the levels of anellovirus in those samples.

"It looks like the anellovirus takes advantage of the lack of immune system surveillance,” De Vlaminck said.
Why or how is unknown. In fact, scientists know very little about the anellovirus. Since it was first identified in 1997, it has been found in human subjects whenever scientists have looked for its genetic fingerprints. But this common bug has not been identified as the cause of any disease.


But the Stanford scientists did find previous studies involving patients infected with HIV in which levels of anellovirus increased as those unfortunate patients progressed toward AIDS and the full-blown collapse of their immune systems.


These two data points – the increased prevalence of anellovirus measured in the plasma of transplant patients in the Stanford study and the previous findings from AIDS research – provided strong hints that increasing levels of anellovirus indicated a weak immune system."


"Put another way, lower levels of anellovirus suggest a stronger immune system and an elevated risk of organ rejection, while higher levels of anellovirus suggest a weaker immune system with a corresponding shift in risk toward vulnerability to infection."

 

cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
For anellovirus to be a key player, would you expect a higher prevalence of CFS among transplant patients?
 

Gemini

Senior Member
Messages
1,176
Location
East Coast USA
http://engineering.stanford.edu/new...ious-virus-could-be-signal-weak-immune-system

Given that Ian Lipkin found anellovirus in a large percentage of the samples he looked at, wondering if this isn't relevant to us as well. Maybe he could go back and look at the levels of anellovirus in those samples.

Agree. Would like Ian Lipkin to reproduce the colorful graphic chart in this article with data from ME/CFS pts. showing abundance (%) for the same eight types, ie. anelloviridae, herpesvirales, etc. over time.
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
For anellovirus to be a key player, would you expect a higher prevalence of CFS among transplant patients?
I would not. Since anellovirus is found in humans whenever scientists look for it, I would expect that the increased level of it in people with weak immune systems is an effect of the weak immune system, not a cause of it.
 

Ruthie24

Senior Member
Messages
219
Location
New Mexico, USA
Perhaps, or like Snow Leopards study suggests, perhaps it's a benign virus until the immune system is suppressed and then it's able to penetrate the blood brain barrier and cause more CNS issues thus becoming less of a benign virus.

In that case it might be both a marker of immune dysfunction and a cause of the disease or at least components of the symptoms?
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
Update: I just watched Montoya´s presentation at a UK ME conference this year, and he said that the decreased levels of anelloviruses found in ME patients compared to controls suggests immune activation.
I wondered about this a year ago...
Since high levels of anellovirus are seen in immune suppression, I've wondered if the low levels in ME/cfs reported by Lipkin might be a marker of an immune system in high gear.

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...kshop-dec-9-10-2014.34279/page-10#post-532908

[My acumen in this case, I fear, is more just a case of a stopped clock being right twice a day. :)]
 
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