%0 Journal Article
%T An unbiased metagenomic search for infectious agents using monozygotic twins discordant for chronic fatigue
%A Patrick F Sullivan
%A Tobias Allander
%A Fredrik Lysholm
%A Shan Goh
%A Bengt Persson
%A Andreas Jacks
%A Birgitta Eveng£¿rd
%A Nancy L Pedersen
%A Bj£¿rn Andersson
%J BMC Microbiology
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2180-11-2
%X No novel DNA or RNA viral signatures were confidently identified. Four affected twins and no unaffected twins evidenced viremia with GB virus C (8.9% vs. 0%, p = 0.019), and one affected twin had previously undetected hepatitis C viremia. An excess of GB virus C viremia in cases with chronic fatigue requires confirmation.Current, impairing chronic fatigue was not robustly associated with viremia detectable in serum.The cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is unknown but infections with viruses have been suspected. We used a new approach to screen blood samples for the presence of known or novel viral infections. Samples were 45 cases with chronic fatigue syndrome or idiopathic chronic fatigue, and controls were their unaffected monozygotic co-twins. No novel DNA or RNA viral signatures were confidently identified. Four affected twins and no unaffected twins evidenced viremia with GB virus C (8.9% vs. 0%, p = 0.019), and one affected twin had previously undetected hepatitis C viremia. An excess of GB virus C viremia in cases with chronic fatigue requires confirmation. However, current, impairing chronic fatigue was not robustly associated with viral infections in serum detectable by our methods.Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by prolonged and impairing fatigue of unknown etiology [1,2]. The standard definition of CFS requires severe fatigue of over six months duration that remains unexplained despite appropriate clinical medical evaluation along with four of eight signs and symptoms (e.g., post-exertional malaise and impaired memory or concentration). Immune dysfunction is a major etiological hypothesis, and could result from a chronic infection or an inappropriate response to an initial infection [3-7]. Multiple studies have investigated the possible role of a range of specific viruses in CFS by searching for case-control differences in past or current viral infection (e.g., cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis C, human herpes virus-6, and par
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/11/2