A multicenter virome analysis of blood, feces, and saliva in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Thomas Briese; Rafal Tokarz; Lucinda Bateman; Xiaoyu Che; Cheng Guo; Komal Jain; Vishal Kapoor; Susan Levine; Mady Hornig; Alexandra Oleynik; Phenix-Lan Quan; Wai H Wong; Brent L Williams; Suzanne D Vernon; Nancy G Klimas; Daniel L Peterson; Jose G Montoya; Walter Ian Lipkin

doi:10.1002/jmv.28993

A multicenter virome analysis of blood, feces, and saliva in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

J Med Virol. 2023 Aug;95(8):e28993. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28993.

Authors

Thomas Briese^{1

2}, Rafal Tokarz^{1

2}, Lucinda Bateman³, Xiaoyu Che^{1

4}, Cheng Guo¹, Komal Jain¹, Vishal Kapoor¹, Susan Levine⁵, Mady Hornig², Alexandra Oleynik¹, Phenix-Lan Quan¹, Wai H Wong¹, Brent L Williams^{1

2

6}, Suzanne D Vernon³, Nancy G Klimas^{7

8}, Daniel L Peterson⁹, Jose G Montoya¹⁰, Walter Ian Lipkin^{1

2

6

11}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
² Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
³ Bateman Horne Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
⁵ Levine Clinic, New York, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
⁷ Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
⁸ Bruce W. Carter Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Geriatric Research Education and Research Center, Miami, Florida, USA.
⁹ Sierra Internal Medicine at Incline Village, Incline Village, USA.
¹⁰ Jack S. Remington Laboratory for Specialty Diagnostics of Toxoplasmosis, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, USA.
¹¹ Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.

PMID: 37526404
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.28993

Abstract

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is estimated to affect 0.4%-2.5% of the global population. Most cases are unexplained; however, some patients describe an antecedent viral infection or response to antiviral medications. We report here a multicenter study for the presence of viral nucleic acid in blood, feces, and saliva of patients with ME/CFS using polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing. We found no consistent group-specific differences other than a lower prevalence of anelloviruses in cases compared to healthy controls. Our findings suggest that future investigations into viral infections in ME/CFS should focus on adaptive immune responses rather than surveillance for viral gene products.

Keywords: ME/CFS; chronic fatigue syndrome; myalgic encephalomyelitis; sequencing; virome.

Publication types

Multicenter Study
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic* / epidemiology
Feces
Humans
Saliva
Virome

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding