Blomberg, Jonas, Blomberg, Fredrik, Sjösten, Anna et al. · Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI · 2012 · DOI
Researchers tested blood samples from ME/CFS patients and healthy blood donors to see if they had been infected with a mouse virus called XMRV, which had been proposed as a possible cause of ME/CFS. Using a sensitive new testing method that looked for multiple signs of XMRV infection, they found no difference in viral markers between the two groups, suggesting XMRV is not associated with ME/CFS.
This study addresses a significant controversy in ME/CFS research, helping to clarify whether XMRV—a purported infectious agent—plays a role in disease pathogenesis. The robust serological methodology provides evidence against a major hypothesized viral etiology, allowing the field to redirect research efforts toward other potential causes while also demonstrating a reusable multiplex platform for future retroviral screening.
This study does not prove that ME/CFS has no infectious cause—it only rules out XMRV specifically. The lack of XMRV-positive human controls limits the positive predictive value of the assay. Additionally, serological absence does not exclude persistent viral infection in tissues or compartments where antibody responses may be minimal.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Blomberg, Jonas, Blomberg, Fredrik, Sjösten, Anna, Sheikholvaezin, Ali, Bölin-Wiener, Agnes, Elfaitouri, Amal, et al. (2012). No evidence for xenotropic murine leukemia-related virus infection in Sweden using internally controlled multiepitope suspension array serology.. Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI. https://doi.org/10.1128/CVI.00391-12
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-blomberg-2012-evidence-xenotropic,
author = {Blomberg, Jonas and Blomberg, Fredrik and Sjösten, Anna and Sheikholvaezin, Ali and Bölin-Wiener, Agnes and Elfaitouri, Amal and Hessel, Sanna and Gottfries, Carl-Gerhard and Zachrisson, Olof and Ohrmalm, Christina and Jobs, Magnus and Pipkorn, Rüdiger},
title = {No evidence for xenotropic murine leukemia-related virus infection in Sweden using internally controlled multiepitope suspension array serology.},
journal = {Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1128/CVI.00391-12},
note = {PubMed: 22787191},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/blomberg-2012-evidence-xenotropic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/blomberg-2012-evidence-xenotropic
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