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Chronic fatigue syndrome caused by viruses?

Is the chronic fatigue syndrome triggered by viruses? Scientists have discovered some clues.

Is a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) - chronic fatigue syndrome - probably caused by a virus infection? Scientists from the US Food and Drug Administration have detected genetic traces of a retrovirus. However, it is unclear how the virus triggers the chronic fatigue syndrome and whether there is actually a connection. So far, two out of three studies have confirmed the assumption.

This is not the first time researchers have made such a discovery in a study. Already in 2009, US researchers reported on traces of so-called retroviruses (reverse transcriptase oncoviruses) in the blood of patients with fatigue syndrome. A retrovirus is a virus whose genetic information is present as RNA but as DNA firmly intervenes in the genome of the host cell.

Scientists from the US Food and Drug Administration have now made the same observation and found pathogens in the blood of CFS patients. But a possible connection is not fully proven. Because it is still unclear how the pathogen incorporates his genetic information into human DNA. For this purpose, the researchers emphasize, further research will be necessary. Numerous questions about the "Cronic Fatigue Syndrome" (CFS) are currently still unclear.

Patients who suffer from the fatigue syndrome are often barely able to work. Those affected suffer from severe physical, mental and mental fatigue. They are constantly tired and sleep excessively. Some sufferers can hardly leave the bed anymore. Fatigue is accompanied by other symptoms such as headache, sore throat, joint pain, muscle pain, difficulty concentrating, diminished memory, non-restorative sleep, lymph node sensitivities, and persistent deterioration of the condition after effort. The CFS can only be diagnosed by means of a so-called exclusion diagnosis in order to rule out the mental fatigue syndrome (burnout) or a chronic fatigue. According to estimates, approximately 300,000 people in Germany are diagnosed with the syndrome.

During the course of the study, the researchers examined 37 subjects. The fatigue syndrome had previously been diagnosed by an exclusion diagnosis. Most participants (32 out of 37) found evidence in the laboratory for retroviruses similar to the mouse leukemia virus (MLV). In order to secure the findings, study participants were examined in which there is no CFS disease. Here, the FDA researchers only found evidence of the virus in three study participants. The researchers now argued in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" that this is a special indication that there is a connection between the traces of the retroviruses and the fatigue syndrome.

The find could also be a coincidence. Because a coincidentally found study of the US disease control authority CDC could not confirm the results of the FDA authority. For this reason, a third study must now be undertaken in order to secure the findings of the first study. In the following study, more study participants would have to be gained and different groups of patients examined. (Sb)