Emory finds XMRV in prostate cancer

[redo]

Small number so not statistically significant, and re-use of the same patient samples to create the 'blinded' tests. So if there was contamination, they just proved that it was consistent (concordant results) several times over in the separate labs.

It's good to have someone who's skeptical. We need that.

As I read it Ross Molinaro found XMRV in all the serum antibody-positive patients by using FISH (a way which detects the virus, and not antibody reactions to the virus).

I wished it had said something about findings in the patients with negative serum antibody tests.

And then Petros took the same samples and tested them with PCR, and found XMRV. And found concordant results in different labs.

Are you saying the samples might have been contaminated in the first lab, the first time they were tested?

If so (as I understad it) it must have been a XMRV-alike substance which have contaminated them. If the samples from the non-serum positive patients had a statistically significant lower frequency of XMRV, then I think we pretty much can rule out contamination.

Please do be the "devil's adovcate".

 

[Forebearance]

Cigana, please remember that during the Incline Village outbreak, for example, they had both a flu-like illness going around and the outside air was thick with biological neurotoxins (mold toxins and cyanobacteria toxins). Those biological neurotoxins cause inflammation in genetically susceptible people. And then if a whole group of citizens had gotten XMRV at some point in their lives.... it might have been a perfect storm.

 

[cigana]

Cigana, please remember that during the Incline Village outbreak, for example, they had both a flu-like illness going around and the outside air was thick with biological neurotoxins (mold toxins and cyanobacteria toxins). Those biological neurotoxins cause inflammation in genetically susceptible people. And then if a whole group of citizens had gotten XMRV at some point in their lives.... it might have been a perfect storm.

Yes of course sorry!

 

[markmc20001]

Cigana, please remember that during the Incline Village outbreak, for example, they had both a flu-like illness going around and the outside air was thick with biological neurotoxins (mold toxins and cyanobacteria toxins). Those biological neurotoxins cause inflammation in genetically susceptible people. And then if a whole group of citizens had gotten XMRV at some point in their lives.... it might have been a perfect storm.

That's an interesting point about having XMRV and being exposed to a secondary trigger. I just watched a show that discussed natural gas drilling. There are clouds of some chemical(think bezene) that forms in clouds around those wells. The residents around those wells are complaining of neuroimmune disease type symptoms. I thought to myself that maybe they already had the retrovirus from vaccine or contact with somebody.

Then the gulf war. They were all exposed to toxins no doubt. The BP oil spill and the corexit sprayed. Moving into an apartment with black mold. All these can be devasting For a person with a retorvirus. Because once ones detox system compromised from a retrovirus. Watch out, you may not be able to detox the toxins fully.

 

[redo]

Mark. And -- in the gulf war they were heavily vaccinated. That could be enough to set off a latent XMRV infection into overdrive.

 

[ahimsa]

Or maybe some folks can fight off the infection better than others?

Another possibility (I admit this is pure speculation) is that if there is a viral trigger for ME/CFS then it's possible that some people are more susceptible to this infection while others are able to fight it off, either partially or fully, and thus avoid symptoms. After all, even with HIV infected patients there is a small subset who either do not develop AIDS or develop it very slowly.

See this Wall Street Journal blog entry: Why Some HIV Patients Naturally Fight Off AIDS

Another example is the polio virus. As I recall, the majority of those who were infected either had no symptoms or mild symptoms (subclinical and nonparalytic polio) and only a small percentage (can't remember the number) went on to develop paralysis.

Just another variable to add to all the confusion of finding a cause/treatment/cure!