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XMRV & Blood Supply Webinar Tuesday, Mar 29

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
I saw the following announcement on the ProHealth web site (see http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=15966 ) but didn't find it on these forums. I did a search but might have missed it. Moderators, please delete this message if it is a duplicate. Thanks!

Watch the XMRV & Blood Supply Webinar Tuesday, Mar 29

The New York Academy of Sciences is hosting an event with free live webinar transmission on Tuesday, March 29 from 1 to 5 pm Eastern Time - "Pathogens in the Blood Supply," presented by the Emerging Infectious Diseases & Microbiology Discussion Group. Among the speakers:

Dr. Judy Mikovits, PhD, a virologist and XRMV researcher at the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease.

Debra Kessler, RN, who is responsible for notifying and counseling donors regarding infectious disease testing and advising transfusion services regarding transfusion transmission of infectious diseases. New York Blood Center.

Dr. Ian Lipkin, Columbia University’s ‘World Class Virus Hunter’ & director of the NIH’s multi-center study of XMRV in CFS patients. (See the Wall Street Journal article on this subject by Amy Dockser-Marcus.)

To learn about the NYC-based event, review the list of speakers, and register to attend or join the webinar, click HERE.
 

Lynn

Senior Member
Messages
366
Thanks, Otis. I am all signed up! Hopefully this will counter the arguments at CROI.

Lynn
 

SpecialK82

Ohio, USA
Messages
993
Location
Ohio, USA
This will be Dr. Mikovits first presentation since CROI and our first look at Dr. Lipkin......Thanks!

Unless it has been canceled, Mikovits is scheduled to speak in Alberta, Canada on Mar 17, "Strategies for Detecting XMRV infection in Clinical samples"
 

Persimmon

Senior Member
Messages
135
Mikovits & Ruscetti appear to have just presented at a Hemispherx conference:

PHILADELPHIA, March 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. (NYSE:HEB) ("Hemispherx" or the "Company") announced that the Company conducted its 9th Clinical Investigators Conference held March 3-6, 2011 in Islamorada, Florida, attended by a variety of prominent clinicians and scientists. The experimental drug, Ampligen, is being tested as a potential therapeutic for CFS and a vaccine enhancer in both cancer and viral disease including pandemic flu. Various independent researchers presented their experiences and findings.

Dr. Luc Montagnier, Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of the HIV/AIDS virus, discussed a number of retroviral topics including mechanisms of genetic variability and the problem of HIV reservoirs in the elimination of HIV despite targeted retroviral therapy. Dr. Judy Mikovits, Research Director, Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease, presented a detailed review of the discovery of XMRV ("Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus") and MLV ("Murine Leukemia Viruses') variants found in CFS, as well as new data on these variants. The XMRV genome may contain a hormonal response element that may explain the disorder of the adrenal stress response pathway in some patients with CFS. Dr. Mikovits also discussed a cellular resistance mechanism as a possible human genetic factor in XMRV infection. Dr. Maureen Hanson, Professor, Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Cornell University, presented corroborating results of her analytical work with Dr. David Bell on the presence of XMRV markers in a pediatric CFS cohort. She further provided an analysis of the relative sensitivities of PCR ("Polymerase Chain Reaction") markers of potential mouse contamination that should be used in PCR assays for XMRV and other related murine retroviruses in human samples. Dr. Frank Ruscetti of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviewed the evidence for an association between XMRV and prostate cancer.

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=215608
 

lansbergen

Senior Member
Messages
2,512
http://www.nyas.org/Events/Detail.aspx?cid=0918b8d8-9a46-4334-b194-23ade9c2a7aa

Disease Associations of XMRV and MLV-Related Viruses

Judy A. Mikovits, PhD, Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease

A new human retrovirus first associated with QQ variant RNaseL a gene in the hereditary prostate cancer gene locus, in prostate cancer in 2006. Detection of integration sites in unmanipulated prostate tissue; demonstration of neutralizing antibody and in situ hybridization for XMRV, supports XMRV as a human retroviral infection associated with prostate cancer. Although in the absence of direct sequencing it cannot be rule out the reactivity can be to related MLV viruses.

In 2009 using a classical virology approach of viral isolation and transmission, electron micropscopy, serology and PCR, Lombardi et al demonstrated the first isolation of XMRV from blood from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) predominately from the west coast of the United States. In 2010, Lo et al. extended these studies by detecting nucleic acids of MLV-related variants in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of CFS from the northeastern United States suggesting additional strains capable of infecting humans exist.

In a study of 300 CFS patients, 13 developed lymphoproliferative disorders. Of those tested, 11/11 were positive for XMRV and 9/9 positive for clonalTCR gamma rearrangements. Spontaneous development of four immortalized B cells lines occurred during culture of cells from CFS patients. Three developed from B cells isolated from the peripheral blood (two of whom had B cell lymphoma) and one from a bone marrow biopsy.

The B cell lines have a mature CD20+, CD23+ phenotype and produce infectious XMRV. Virus production occurred despite extensive hypermutation of the proviruses in these cells by APOBEC3G.
Therefore, XMRV infection may accelerate the development of B cell malignancies by either indirect chronic stimulation of the immune system and/or by direct infection of the B-cell lineage. Since viral load in peripheral blood is low, these data suggest that B cells in tissues such as spleen and lymph nodes could be an in vivo reservoir for XMRV.

We have also identified an inflammatory cytokine and chemokine signature that distinguishes XMRV infected CFS patients from healthy controls with 94% sensitivity and specificity Monitoring immune dysfunction affords the opportunity to begin to understand the pathogenesis of XMRVs. In addition to these data, recent advances in developing tests for detection and characterization of XMRV–variants will be also be discussed
 

jace

Off the fence
Messages
856
Location
England
Abstracts are up for the 29/3 talk

http://www.nyas.org/Events/Detail.aspx?cid=0918b8d8-9a46-4334-b194-23ade9c2a7aa

Disease Associations of XMRV and MLV-Related Viruses

Judy A. Mikovits, PhD, Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease

A new human retrovirus first associated with QQ variant RNaseL, a gene in the hereditary prostate cancer gene locus, in prostate cancer in 2006. Detection of integration sites in unmanipulated prostate tissue; demonstration of neutralizing antibody and in situ hybridization for XMRV, supports XMRV as a human retroviral infection associated with prostate cancer. Although in the absence of direct sequencing it cannot be rule out the reactivity can be to related MLV viruses.

In 2009 using a classical virology approach of viral isolation and transmission, electron micropscopy, serology and PCR, Lombardi et al demonstrated the first isolation of XMRV from blood from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) predominately from the west coast of the United States.

In 2010, Lo et al. extended these studies by detecting nucleic acids of MLV-related variants in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of CFS from the northeastern United States suggesting additional strains capable of infecting humans exist. In a study of 300 CFS patients, 13 developed lymphoproliferative disorders. Of those tested, 11/11 were positive for XMRV and 9/9 positive for clonalTCR gamma rearrangements.

Spontaneous development of four immortalized B cells lines occurred during culture of cells from CFS patients. Three developed from B cells isolated from the peripheral blood (two of whom had B cell lymphoma) and one from a bone marrow biopsy. The B cell lines have a mature CD20+, CD23+ phenotype and produce infectious XMRV. Virus production occurred despite extensive hypermutation of the proviruses in these cells by APOBEC3G.

Therefore, XMRV infection may accelerate the development of B cell malignancies by either indirect chronic stimulation of the immune system and/or by direct infection of the B-cell lineage. Since viral load in peripheral blood is low, these data suggest that B cells in tissues such as spleen and lymph nodes could be an in vivo reservoir for XMRV.

We have also identified an inflammatory cytokine and chemokine signature that distinguishes XMRV infected CFS patients from healthy controls with 94% sensitivity and specificity Monitoring immune dysfunction affords the opportunity to begin to understand the pathogenesis of XMRVs. In addition to these data, recent advances in developing tests for detection and characterization of XMRV–variants will be also be discussed

Microbe Hunting

W. Ian Lipkin, MD, Columbia University

Recent advances in nucleic acid diagnostic methods have revolutionized microbiology by facilitating rapid, sensitive microbial surveillance and differential diagnosis of infectious diseases. Implementation of these methods may enable intervention when the prognosis is optimal for limiting replication, dissemination, transmission, morbidity and mortality.

It may also reveal unappreciated links between infection and chronic diseases. In this lecture I will discuss mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis, routes to proving causation, and a staged strategy for surveillance and discovery. In reviewing the strengths and limitations of various analytical platforms, I will provide examples that illustrate how each platform can be used to investigate clinical problems.
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
This is a biggie because it suggests that XMRV can evade APOBEC editing in B-cells! B-cells therefore could be a reservoir - which is so intriguing given EBV infection in B-cells and the cancer mentioned above. Interesting that it may replicate in just the cells that are so problematic in CFS! :cool:

The B cell lines have a mature CD20+, CD23+ phenotype and produce infectious XMRV. Virus production occurred despite extensive hypermutation of the proviruses in these cells by APOBEC3G. [/B]Therefore, XMRV infection may accelerate the development of B cell malignancies by either indirect chronic stimulation of the immune system and/or by direct infection of the B-cell lineage. Since viral load in peripheral blood is low, these data suggest that B cells in tissues such as spleen and lymph nodes could be an in vivo reservoir for XMRV.

If XMRV can just get validated it has some really ntriguing connections.....there are the nerve cells Dusty Miller is working on as well...
 
Messages
72
Location
UK
I have been mulling over the following part of Judy Mikovits's abstract for this up coming event since reading it a week ago (unfortunately I have been too ill to put fingers to keyboard up until now):

We have also identified an inflammatory cytokine and chemokine signature that distinguishes XMRV infected CFS patients from healthy controls with 94% sensitivity and specificity Monitoring immune dysfunction affords the opportunity to begin to understand the pathogenesis of XMRVs.

Do I remember correctly (or maybe it was just a suggestion), that Judy Mikovits was going to test blinded samples from other labs to determine if her processes worked (ie not contamination etc). If I did read it, then it would have been on these boards; someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Assuming this is the case, then is it possible that Judy Mikovits is about to 'drop the world a note' that she has determine 94% of the samples correctly. If so, then this would be a massive kick in the teeth to the naysayers, as it would imply that XMRV is linked to ME/CFS, otherwise how would her testing have been 94% accurate?

Another assumption could be that she is 100% accurate - the other 6% may be healthy XMRV carriers - which kind of fits in with previous figures!

I actually hate making assumptions, but I had to get this off my mind and get some feedback.

I look forward to the event and what Judy and the other speakers have to say.

BTW if the naysayers say that Judy Mikovits just got lucky with her 94%, then she might as well give up and make some money in Vegas :rolleyes:

Laurence :In bed:
 

currer

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
You could be right, Laurie. This looks like it could be the in-depth research we have been deprived of during all those other contamination/ PCR studies.
 

LaurelW

Senior Member
Messages
643
Location
Utah
Can anyone help me figure out how to register for free? I've heard that some people have been able to. Whenever I go to the registration page, it wants either $30 for regular people or $15 for students. Would rather not spend that money if I don't have to.
 

LaurelW

Senior Member
Messages
643
Location
Utah
Thanks Shannah. That's so weird, I went to the exact same page earlier and there was a fee. But just now I registered for nothing. (theme from Twilight Zone)