Lombardi, Vincent C, Hagen, Kathryn S, Hunter, Kenneth W et al. · In vivo (Athens, Greece) · 2011
This 2011 study looked for a specific virus (XMRV) in the blood of ME/CFS patients and measured immune system chemicals called cytokines and chemokines. Researchers found a distinctive pattern of 10 immune chemicals that could identify XMRV-positive patients with very high accuracy (93-96%), suggesting that this virus may trigger a particular type of immune response in some people with ME/CFS.
If confirmed, identifying a specific immune signature linked to XMRV-positive ME/CFS could enable better patient stratification and targeted immunological interventions. This work represented one of the first attempts to characterize the immunological landscape of a suspected viral-associated ME/CFS subgroup, potentially explaining disease heterogeneity.
This study does not prove that XMRV causes ME/CFS—it shows correlation only. It does not establish that all ME/CFS patients have XMRV infection or that the identified immune signature is pathogenic rather than a secondary response. Subsequent studies failed to consistently detect XMRV in CFS patient populations, raising questions about the original findings.
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
Lombardi, Vincent C, Hagen, Kathryn S, Hunter, Kenneth W, Diamond, John W, Smith-Gagen, Julie, Yang, Wei, et al. (2011). Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus-associated chronic fatigue syndrome reveals a distinct inflammatory signature.. In vivo (Athens, Greece). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21576403/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lombardi-2011-xenotropic-murine,
author = {Lombardi, Vincent C and Hagen, Kathryn S and Hunter, Kenneth W and Diamond, John W and Smith-Gagen, Julie and Yang, Wei and Mikovits, Judy A},
title = {Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus-associated chronic fatigue syndrome reveals a distinct inflammatory signature.},
journal = {In vivo (Athens, Greece)},
year = {2011},
note = {PubMed: 21576403},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lombardi-2011-xenotropic-murine},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lombardi-2011-xenotropic-murine
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