Survey of Anti-Pathogen Antibody Levels in ME/CFS

The Center would like to announce a serology publication that is open access in Proteomes.

This study, led by Adam O’Neal, analyzed plasma antibodies to 122 different pathogen antigens in a case-control comparison including 103 individuals. The cohort of 59 ME/CFS and 44 healthy controls included both female and male participants. The anti-pathogen antibody assays were performed by Augmenta Bioworks. Although this study did not find one particular pathogen associated with ME/CFS, sex-based differences were uncovered. Check out this publication (link above) for more information.

International ME/CFS Awareness Day 2022: metabolite disruption in ME/CFS

For International ME/CFS Awareness Day, we would like to announce the official publication of a large metabolomics study from our Center. The work led by Arnaud Germain, PhD, describes results from a longitudinal plasma metabolite study associated with a 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). Over 100 individuals, including both females and males, were assayed before and after both days of the 2-day CPET. The article is open access in the journal JCI Insight. The quote below, from this publication, does an excellent job at summarizing the study.

Our longitudinal study design has allowed us to identify a number of pathways that diverge between healthy individuals and those with ME/CFS 24 hours after an exercise challenge, at which time patients typically experience PEM. Inability to recover properly after exertion is one of the most disabling symptoms of ME/CFS. Our study provides insight into the metabolic changes that are inimical to proper response to physical effort.

Maureen Hanson authors editorial on enteroviruses and ME/CFS

Published on August 12, 2021, Maureen Hanson wrote an editorial in Frontiers Science News that highlights the enterovirus theory of ME/CFS. Particularly, Hanson emphasizes that, “ME/CFS is neither a rare nor a trivial illness.” She provides insight into the potential link between ME/CFS and a chronic EV infection. This probable link was reviewed in detail in a Frontiers in Medicine June 2021 article by Adam O’Neal and Hanson. Hanson discusses the possibility that SARS viruses may be the second class of RNA viruses to cause a chronic illness, given the existence of “long COVID.”

Graphical representation of enteroviruses causing brain inflammation. Photo credit: Kateryna Kon (Shutterstock)

Metabolomics study shows disrupted metabolism of acyl lipids and steroids in ME/CFS

Dr. Arnaud Germain

Dr. Arnaud Germain, a member of the Hanson Lab, is the lead author on a new publication in the journal Metabolites. The paper describes a metabolomics study on the plasma of 52 female subjects. A large emphasis on lipids was observed in the approximately 1,750 blood compound datapoints. As summarized in the illustration below, notable changes were uncovered when comparing the ME/CFS and control cohorts.

Altered T cell metabolism and dysregulated cytokine associations in ME/CFS

The ENID Center is excited to announce a new publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Recent Hanson Lab graduate, Dr. Alexandra Mandarano, is the lead author of “Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients exhibit altered T cell metabolism and cytokine associations”. This paper goes into our research exploring the immune system in people with ME/CFS.

UPDATE: The final publication of the paper was released on February 10, 2020. Accompanying this release, Dr. Mady Hornig wrote a related commentary: “Can the light of immunometabolism cut through “brain fog”?“.

Dr. Daniel Peterson and Simmaron Research staff Dr. Gunnar Gottschalk and Marco Maynard provided blood samples from carefully diagnosed ME/CFS cases and controls that were critical for carrying out the study.  Thanks to Simmaron Research and a private donor, as well as NIH, for financial support for the study.  A press release was issued by NIH.

Furthermore, we have launched a new initiative to help expand the reach of our research. Dr. Mandarano has recorded a talk that walks you through this publication. The video is hosted on our new YouTube channel. Check out this video below and stay tuned for future posts and videos about our research.

Collaborators publish CPET case report

Our collaborators at the Workwell Foundation, working with physical therapists and exercise physiologists, have published a case report in the Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Journal on measurement reproducibility over the two days of a two-day cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). The report looked at the variability of CPET results from six people with and without medical diagnoses of fatiguing illnesses. All of the participants were women and matched by age and BMI. Although the authors point out that generalizations are not possible due to the low number of included subjects, the response to exercise by both individuals with ME/CFS is important to highlight. 

Continue reading “Collaborators publish CPET case report”

Gut microbiome publication

On January 22, 2018, PeerJ published “Eukaryotes in the gut microbiota in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome”. The publication is work done by Center participants regarding the diversity of eukaryotes in the gut microbiomes of people with ME/CFS and in healthy controls.

A recent research highlight by the Solve ME/CFS Initiative provides a detailed summary of this article. SMCI’s research summary can be viewed here.


Figure 1: Individual relative taxa abundances in healthy controls and ME/CFS patients. (from publication)

Mandarano AH, Giloteaux L, Keller BA, Levine SM, Hanson MR. 2018. Eukaryotes in the gut microbiota in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. PeerJ 6:e4282 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4282

Review concerning chronotropic intolerance in ME/CFS

Our collaborators at Workwell Foundation have published a review concerning chronotropic incompetence in ME/CFS patients. What this means is that studies that have ME/CFS subjects exercise to a percentage of their maximal heart rate may be actually having the subject exercise at their maximum capacity, since their actual heart rate may often be lower than expected. Please see the link below to be directed to the publication.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2019.00082

New metabolomics study published in Metabolites

Arnaud Germain, Ph.D.

The Hanson lab, which is a member of our Center, has recently published a metabolomics study in the journal Metabolites. Visit https://www.facebook.com/CornellMECFSCenter/ for a summary of the article. The complete publication can be accessed using the link below.

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/8/4/90/htm

Arnaud Germain, David Ruppert, Susan M. Levine, and Maureen R. Hanson. 2018.  Prospective Biomarkers from Plasma Metabolomics of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Implicate Redox Imbalance in Disease Symptomatology. Metabolites 8(4), 90

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