metabolism – Cornell Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease

Urine metabolomics shows divergent response to exercise between people with ME/CFS and sedentary controls

We have a new study published today that compares metabolite levels in urine of ME/CFS patients and sedentary controls before and after cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET).

Katie Glass is lead author of Urine Metabolomics Exposes Anomalous Recovery after Maximal Exertion in Female ME/CFS Patients. The study is available online in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and full text is open access.

As shown in the graphical abstract above and explained in the video abstract below, we found a large number of metabolites at increased concentrations in the urine of controls 24 hours after CPET compared to baseline. However, we did not find significant changes in levels of any metabolites in the urine of ME/CFS patients after CPET.

When we looked at which metabolites were changing differently in ME/CFS patients and controls after exercise, we found the most compounds in the amino acid and lipid metabolic superpathways.

Overall, our data suggests that the metabolisms of sedentary controls undergo major changes that allow them to recover from exertion, while ME/CFS patients fail to make similar adaptive responses. This dysfunctional metabolic excretion could be contributing to exercise intolerance in ME/CFS patients.

Check out the paper to see many more results, including individual compounds that are significantly different between patients and controls and altered correlations between urine and plasma metabolites.

Video abstract by Katie Glass

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.

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.