The Enterovirus Theory of Disease Etiology in ME/CFS: A Critical Review

Adam O’Neal

This methodologically focused review covers aspects of ME/CFS pathophysiology that are consistent with chronic enterovirus infection outcomes and then closely examines the technology used in in past ME/CFS publications to determine how rigorously the enterovirus theory of disease etiology has been investigated.

Maureen Hanson provides a Pecha Kucha for ME/CFS

For the ME International Awareness Day, Director Maureen Hanson is providing a Pecha Kucha on ME/CFS.  This is a short video presentation in which 20 slides are presented, automatically changing every 20 seconds.  This format has been developed to convey information quickly in a visual manner (see https://www.pechakucha.com/ for more information).

Where do ME/CFS immune cells get their energy, or ale?

Jessica Maya, a graduate student in the Genetics, Genomics, and Development Program at Cornell University in Maureen Hanson’s lab, talks about ME/CFS, the immune system response, and the fuels that energize immune cells to properly defend the body. This talk was adapted from Cornell University’s 3 Minute Thesis Finalists Round Competition, where she was tasked to explain her thesis work in under 3 minutes in an engaging form that could be understood by an intelligent audience with no background in the research area.

Plasma proteomics publication shows disrupted cell-to-cell signaling

We are proud to announce our latest plasma proteomics publication is available as open access in Proteomes.

This manuscript takes a look at 4,790 circulating plasma proteins from 20 ME/CFS women compared to 20 healthy women, over an unprecedented range, for ME/CFS, of 9 orders of magnitude.

Arnaud Germain, PhD

Pathway analysis uncovered disrupted cell-to-cell communication, specifically in the ephrin-Eph signaling pathway. This pathway is crucial for many aspects of our body’s homeostasis, including development, physiology, and disease regulation.

Additionally, the paper outlines promising results for the development of a diagnostic test using protein ratios.

First author, Arnaud Germain, PhD, outlines these findings in a video abstract below.

Transcripts for the video are available:
English
German

Chinese, French, and Spanish subtitles for the video abstract are available. See video settings to select an option.

RTI launches two tools to advance ME/CFS research

Our MECFSnet collaborator, RTI, which operates the Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC) for the NIH ME/CFS Centers, has officially launched two research tools – mapMECFS and searchMECFS.

With mapMECFS, the Cornell ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center has worked promptly to submit data to the network. A total of 8 datasets are available. Below lists the publications from which the datasets have been uploaded.

Read more to see the full announcement from RTI.

Continue reading “RTI launches two tools to advance ME/CFS research”

CDC SEC call on Immune Dysfunction in ME/CFS

On September 23, 2020, a CDC ME/CFS Stakeholder Engagement and Communication (SEC) call took place, featuring a presentation by Dr. Maureen Hanson, ENID Center Director, on “Immune Dysfunction in ME/CFS”. Dr. Elizabeth Unger, Branch Chief of CDC’s Chronic Viral Diseases Branch, provided CDC programmatic updates. The SEC call transcript, audio, and presentation slides are now available on the CDC’s website. Direct links to specific content, including Hanson’s slideshow presentation, are below.

Listen to the audio recording.

Read the transcript.

View Dr. Hanson’s presentation.

Maureen Hanson presents at Cornell COVID-19 Summit 2020

On November 4-5, 2020, Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine held a COVID-19 Summit to exchange information about research into the disease ongoing at both institutions. Dr. Maureen Hanson presented a “flash” talk with three slides to introduce Cornell COVID-19 researchers to the similarity between long-haul COVID-19 and ME/CFS. Content from Hanson’s talk is below.

Betsy Keller presents at Swedish RME annual ME/CFS conference 2020

At the Swedish RME annual ME/CFS conference on Oct. 14, 2020, Clinical Core Co-Director, Dr. Betsy Keller, presented virtually on post-exertional malaise (PEM). Keller goes into detail on PEM by covering what it is, ways to assess impairment due to PEM, and strategies to minimize PEM. Her full talk “PEM: Strategies for determining and managing the cardinal symptom of ME/CFS” can be viewed below and is also available on YouTube here.

For an English version of Swedish RME’s website visit this link.

Our first EV publication finds disturbances in cytokine networks

Dr. Ludovic Giloteaux

Center investigator Dr. Ludovic Giloteaux is lead author of a new publication out in the Journal of Translational Medicine. The paper describes cytokine profiling in extracellular vesicles (EVs) in ME/CFS. The study specifically looks at EVs from the plasma of 70 participants, 35 of which are diagnosed with ME/CFS and compared with 35 healthy controls. Both female and male participants were included in this work.  Dr. Jesus Castro-Marrero visited our lab from Spain on a fellowship to contribute to the project.

One key finding of the study is the noted disturbances in cytokine networks.. Disturbances in these cytokine networks were seen in both plasma and EVs, and provides further evidence of immune dysregulation in ME/CFS. We are using information from this work to inform our further studies on EVs from blood collected before and after an exercise challenge. Stay tuned for future publications from our Center on this topic.

NYSDOH Panel Session on ME/CFS in Age of COVID-19

Center Director Dr. Maureen Hanson will be presenting current scientific research on ME/CFS during a panel session hosted by New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH). The session titled “Scientific Research on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the Age of COVID-19” will be moderated by Dr. Charles Gonzalez. Dr. Ian Lipkin (Columbia University) and Dr. Avindra Nath (NIH) will be joining Hanson as panel presenters.

UPDATE: In case you missed the panel discussion, NYS DOH released a recording along with each presenter’s slides. Direct links to the recording and Dr. Hanson’s slides are below. Visit the NYS DOH ME/CFS website for more information.

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