Stieler, Kristin, Schulz, Claudia, Lavanya, Madakasira et al. · Virology · 2010 · DOI
This study examined how XMRV, a virus found in some ME/CFS patients' blood cells, infects different types of human cells. Researchers tested which cells the virus could enter and grow in, finding that it could infect various cell types including immune cells and prostate cells. The virus appeared to replicate most efficiently in prostate tissue, suggesting the virus may have preferred targets in the body.
Understanding which human cells XMRV can infect is crucial for determining how the virus might persist in ME/CFS patients and cause disease. This foundational work helps explain how XMRV could spread throughout the body and establishes a basis for investigating whether viral tropism contributes to ME/CFS symptoms.
This study does not prove that XMRV causes ME/CFS or establish the prevalence of XMRV in patient populations. It also does not demonstrate that XMRV infection actually occurs in vivo in the tissues shown to be permissive in cell culture, nor does it establish causality between viral tropism and clinical disease manifestations.
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
Stieler, Kristin, Schulz, Claudia, Lavanya, Madakasira, Aepfelbacher, Martin, Stocking, Carol, & Fischer, Nicole (2010). Host range and cellular tropism of the human exogenous gammaretrovirus XMRV.. Virology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2009.12.028
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-stieler-2010-host-range,
author = {Stieler, Kristin and Schulz, Claudia and Lavanya, Madakasira and Aepfelbacher, Martin and Stocking, Carol and Fischer, Nicole},
title = {Host range and cellular tropism of the human exogenous gammaretrovirus XMRV.},
journal = {Virology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1016/j.virol.2009.12.028},
note = {PubMed: 20110097},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/stieler-2010-host-range},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/stieler-2010-host-range
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