Virus in stomach causes chronic fatigue

19 September, 2007

It is possible that chronic fatigue may have more to do with a virus in the stomach than a hectic work schedule.

In a new a study, published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology, researchers in California, the United States, suggest that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) may be associated with the presence of enteroviruses, viral microorganisms that live in the digestive tract.

The chronic fatigue syndrome is a debilitating affliction without any known cause or cure. The condition is associated with persistent fatigue that severely limits one’s day-to-day activities.

Many patients with CFS also complain of stomach pain and indigestion – a correlation that led Dr John Chia, lead author of the study, and co-investigator Andrew Chia of Enterovirus Medical Research to investigate further.

By analyzing samples of stomach tissue from 165 patients with CFS, they discovered that 82% of these individuals had high levels of enteroviruses in their digestive systems.

Dr John Chia said he believed that chronic antiviral infections are an important cause of CFS. This finding, he added, would open the door to research on how the viruses work in the body and how antiviral drugs can be developed to treat these symptoms.

Dr Nancy Klimas, a professor of medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine, the United States, agreed with Dr Chia, saying that the research may have revealed a link that nobody expected. According to her, “it is a very powerful study, and one that is hard to dismiss because Dr Chia looked at so many patients.”

In recent years, microorganisms in the gut have been fingered as culprits in other maladies too – the most notable example being the link established between the stomach bacteria helicobacter pylori and stomach ulcers, which won Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, Australian scientists, a Nobel Prize in 2005.

The stomach virus, Dr Chia believes, that is linked to the chronic fatigue syndrome enters the body through the gastrointestinal tract and then moves on to infect other tissues, such as the central nervous system and the heart. It begins as an acute infection, causing flu-like symptoms and stomachaches.

Then the virus lingers, and, in some people, it develops into a chronic infection that causes CFS.

Unlike traditional viruses that infect and kill cells, the enterovirus, says Dr Chia, has adapted to grow inside of a cell but does not kill it. The cell protects the virus and allows it to thrive. So, although the body’s immune system tries to fight off the virus, it does not succeed.

In some people, the virus attack develops into a chronic infection that causes CFS.

With so many different viruses in one’s body, it may seem impossible to tackle the disease. However, certain anti-viral drugs have already been developed that target specific viruses and can be used to treat certain groups of CFS patients.

In one example, doctors at Stanford University School of Medicine are using the anti-viral drug valganciclovir to treat CFS, and they have had promising results.

Dr Chia thinks that, as long as other scientists in the field confirm his results, drugs to fight enteroviruses will be available within five years.