Testing Strategies for Detection of Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus Infection

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) is a newly identified gamma retrovirus and may be associated with prostate cancer- (PC) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Since its identification in 2006 and detection of polytropic murine lenkemia virus (MLV)-like sequences in CFS patients in 2010, several test methods including nucleic acid testing methods and serological assays have been developed for detection of XMRV and/or MLV-like sequences. However, these research assays have not yet been validated and evaluated due to the lack of well-characterized reference materials. Mouse DNA contamination should be carefully checked when testing human specimens in order to avoid false-positive detection of XMRV or MLV-like sequences.