This was published in the recent 'breakthrough' magazine from ME Research UK.
(Apologies if this has been posted already... I can't find it anywhere.)
(Apologies if this has been posted already... I can't find it anywhere.)
The Swedish Study
For the XMRV discovery to stand the test of time, independent laboratories across the world must attempt to confirm the findings in their own local populations of ME/CFS patients - confirmation and replication are where the rubber meets the road in science.
The aim of the new investigation funded by ME Research UK and the Irish ME Trust is to establish whether XMRV nucleic acid can be found in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, plasma and serum of Swedish ME/CFS patients and controls.
Initially, the researchers will retrospectively test previously stored samples from three groups of patients (20 with Fukuda-defined ME/CFS, 20 with fibromyalgia and 20 with irritable bowell) and 20 controls. They will then prospectively test samples from 120 ME/CFS patients (defined on the Fukuda 1994 and the Canadian 2003 criteria, similar to patients in the original report in Science), who will also have functional assessments.
The investigators are well-placed to conduct this investigation. Prof. Blomberg is head of the Research Group of Clinical Virology at the University of Uppsala, and his research interests include human endogenous retroviruses, and the links between retroviral sequences and diseases such as MS and schizophrenia.
His collaborator Prof. Carl-Gerhard Gottfries is Professor Emeritus at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Molndal, and founder of the Gottfries Clinic AB in Molndal, which has conducted clinical research on patients.
Permission to post - Taken from the article "The Swedish Study", page 11 in the recent 'breakthrough' magazine published by ME Research UK, Issue 11, Spring 2010
For the XMRV discovery to stand the test of time, independent laboratories across the world must attempt to confirm the findings in their own local populations of ME/CFS patients - confirmation and replication are where the rubber meets the road in science.
The aim of the new investigation funded by ME Research UK and the Irish ME Trust is to establish whether XMRV nucleic acid can be found in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, plasma and serum of Swedish ME/CFS patients and controls.
Initially, the researchers will retrospectively test previously stored samples from three groups of patients (20 with Fukuda-defined ME/CFS, 20 with fibromyalgia and 20 with irritable bowell) and 20 controls. They will then prospectively test samples from 120 ME/CFS patients (defined on the Fukuda 1994 and the Canadian 2003 criteria, similar to patients in the original report in Science), who will also have functional assessments.
The investigators are well-placed to conduct this investigation. Prof. Blomberg is head of the Research Group of Clinical Virology at the University of Uppsala, and his research interests include human endogenous retroviruses, and the links between retroviral sequences and diseases such as MS and schizophrenia.
His collaborator Prof. Carl-Gerhard Gottfries is Professor Emeritus at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Molndal, and founder of the Gottfries Clinic AB in Molndal, which has conducted clinical research on patients.
Permission to post - Taken from the article "The Swedish Study", page 11 in the recent 'breakthrough' magazine published by ME Research UK, Issue 11, Spring 2010