Mi, Zhiqiang, Lu, Ying, Zhang, Shana et al. · Transfusion · 2012 · DOI
Researchers tested 391 healthy blood donors in China to see if they carried a virus called XMRV, which had been found in some people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Using sensitive laboratory tests, they found no evidence of this virus in any of the blood donors. This suggests that XMRV may not be present in the Chinese blood donor population.
Since XMRV was proposed as a potential cofactor in ME/CFS pathogenesis, understanding its prevalence in different populations is critical for evaluating its role in disease. Geographic variation in XMRV detection—some regions positive, others negative—has important implications for understanding whether XMRV is a genuine pathogenic agent or a contaminant.
This study does not prove XMRV is not associated with ME/CFS globally, as it only examined healthy blood donors in one region and does not directly study ME/CFS patients. The absence of virus in this population does not address whether XMRV plays a role in disease pathogenesis where it may be present, nor does it explain the conflicting findings from other laboratories.
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
Mi, Zhiqiang, Lu, Ying, Zhang, Shana, An, Xiaoping, Wang, Xiaona, Chen, Bin, et al. (2012). Absence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus in blood donors in China.. Transfusion. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1537-2995.2011.03267.x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mi-2012-absence-xenotropic,
author = {Mi, Zhiqiang and Lu, Ying and Zhang, Shana and An, Xiaoping and Wang, Xiaona and Chen, Bin and Wang, Quanli and Tong, Yigang},
title = {Absence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus in blood donors in China.},
journal = {Transfusion},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1111/j.1537-2995.2011.03267.x},
note = {PubMed: 21854397},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mi-2012-absence-xenotropic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mi-2012-absence-xenotropic
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