EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS (EBV) AND THE CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME - NORMAL VIRUS LOAD IN BLOOD AND NORMAL IMMUNOLOGICAL REACTIVITY IN THE EBV REGRESSION

The etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is unknown. Some patien ts have high antibody titers to viral capsid antigen (VCA) and early a ntigen (EA) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), suggesting that reactivation of EBV is involved. We investigated virus load (spontaneous transforma tion) and immunologic regression of EBV-induced transformation in peri pheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 10 selected patients with CFS who had high antibody titers to VCA and EA, The outcome was compar ed with that for nine healthy controls and one patient with severe chr onic active EBV infection (SCAEBV), There were no significant differen ces in viral load between patients and healthy controls, Immunologic r egression of in vitro-transformed PBMCs was also equally efficient in patients and controls. The SCAEBV-infected patient and two controls, w ho were all seronegative for EBV, showed impaired regression, In concl usion, we were unable to demonstrate a role for reactivation of EBV in CFS, even in selected patients with high titers of antibody to VCA an d EA of EBV.