Stürzel, Christina Martina, Palesch, David, Khalid, Mohammad et al. · PloS one · 2013 · DOI
Researchers tested whether XMRV, a virus once thought to be linked to ME/CFS, could actually infect and spread in human immune cells. They found that while the virus could replicate in some laboratory cell lines, it could not effectively infect or spread in real human blood cells from patients. This supports the conclusion that XMRV is unlikely to be a genuine human pathogen responsible for ME/CFS.
For ME/CFS patients, this study addresses a critical question about whether XMRV—a virus that generated significant controversy when initially associated with ME/CFS—is actually capable of infecting human immune cells. The findings provide empirical evidence that XMRV cannot productively replicate in primary human immune cells, supporting the conclusion that it is unlikely a causative pathogen for the disease and potentially resolving years of conflicting research.
This study does not definitively prove that XMRV plays no role in any human disease, as infection might occur in tissues not tested (e.g., neural tissue, gut, bone marrow). It also does not address whether patients with ME/CFS might harbor defective or latent XMRV variants, nor does it exclude the possibility that other related retroviruses could have tropism for primary human cells.
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
Stürzel, Christina Martina, Palesch, David, Khalid, Mohammad, Wissing, Silke, Fischer, Nicole, & Münch, Jan (2013). Utilization of replication-competent XMRV reporter-viruses reveals severe viral restriction in primary human cells.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074427
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-strzel-2013-utilization-replication,
author = {Stürzel, Christina Martina and Palesch, David and Khalid, Mohammad and Wissing, Silke and Fischer, Nicole and Münch, Jan},
title = {Utilization of replication-competent XMRV reporter-viruses reveals severe viral restriction in primary human cells.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0074427},
note = {PubMed: 24058563},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/strzel-2013-utilization-replication},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/strzel-2013-utilization-replication
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.