Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is an exhausting multi -systemic disorder, from which adults are rarely restored. Researchers tried their best to find changes in the body that underlies the disease, which often appears after the infection, partly because it can occur in different forms. Now, scientists from the National Institute of Health (NIH) have completed, perhaps, the most comprehensive study by ME/CFS today, having studied the carefully selected group of participants. In the study that was published today in Natural connectionResearchers observed changes that show how the disease violates the immune and nervous systems.
In addition to overwhelming fatigue, people with me/CF experience a number of other symptoms, such as brain fog, hypersensitivity to light and short -term memory loss. Medical workers historically rejected the condition as a psychosomatic disorder, implying that the disease does not have a physiological basis.
These dismissive views restrain my research/CFS, and scientists have not reached progress in development Diagnostics And therapy and understanding of the mechanism underlying this state. In recent years, some progress in the adoption of Me/CFS as a real physiological state has been achieved, partly from the appearance of a long covid (a state, which, according to some studies. qualified by diagnosis ME/CFS about half the time). But doubt about his legitimacy is delayed. Alison was takenA person with me/CFS, who was a participant in a new study, says that she will be shocked to meet someone with me/CFS, who at some moment did not dismiss his problems.
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Avindra NathThe neurologist in NIH intends to reveal the internal work of the state. Firstly, his team was to carefully choose a cohort of Me/CFS participants for research, because in this condition there are numerous forms that may not have the same physiological manifestations. Researchers focused on the subention of people with me/CF, who developed a condition after infection (before covid pandemia). They entered this group, having carried out a strict selection process, and they included only participants, whom a group of five clinicians unanimously agreed, corresponded to the criteria. Only 17 participants in ME/CFS remained after the selection process, along with 21 healthy volunteers. With its carefully selected cohort, the NATH team used many tests to study several body systems.
Researchers saw signs that the immune system became “worn out” with ME/CFS participants. In the blood of this group, they found that the murderous T -cells, which are usually aimed at infected cells for destruction, had a decrease in the level of protein called CD226, which otherwise would increase their proliferation and activity. In cerebrospinal fluid, the killers of T -cells had increased levels of programmed protein of the death of cells 1 (PD1). This protein is considered a marker of “exhaustion”, and its presence may indicate that the excessively stimulated T -cell has closed. “The actual immune system burns, becomes exhausted and can no longer respond to infectious triggers,” says he says Catherine SetonThe immunologist examining me/CFS at the Quadram Institute, which was not related to this study.
NAT assumes that such exhaustion can occur if the remains of infection are preserved for a long time after it ends and continues to stimulate immune cells for a long time, but additional evidence is necessary to confirm this. Seton suggests that the “leaking intestine” can be another trigger. According to her, if inflammatory microbes that live in the intestines in the bloodstream can constantly stimulate immune cells, which leads to exhaustion.
But not all protection of the immune system is reduced in Me/CFS. Past research Also indicated Supervision Immune response: a state called autoimmunite, as a result of which other immune cells mistakenly attack healthy tissues, often producing autoantite, which are aimed at the proteins of the body. The NATH team discovered a low level of autoantiber only one person with me/CFS. But the researchers may not have noticed anymore, because they excluded the participants who had the main autoimmune conditions. Maurin HansonThe cellular and molecular biologist at the University of Cornell, which is working on ME/CFS, but did not participate in this study, adds that “it is very difficult to explore all possible antibodies”, making it difficult to exclude the presence of other autoantibodies.
Nat found some indirect evidence of autoimmunite. His team observed hyperactive G-cell genes among participants in women Me/CFS. B cells are a source of autoantel, so it is possible that this change can predict women to autoimmunite, he suggests. These are other sexual differences that appear, show that “there are potentially two different mechanisms that are found in men compared to women,” says Seton, which can partially explain why ME/CFS is three times more likely in women.
In addition to the immune system, the NAT team was looking for changes in the brain. When the participants were asked to grab the object, those with me/CF were reduced by activity in their right time intersection, in the area of the brain participating in a dump truck, as a result of which the brain predicts the action before a person is consciously aware of it. Although other differences in the brain of people with me/CFS were known for some time, “this specific conclusion of this particular region is new,” says Hanson. NAT assumes that this fall in activity suggests that the brain warns people with me/CF against the strength of the force during the clutch test, which, according to him, makes sense because the symptoms of ME/CFS are often intensified if people with the condition are overloaded. However, the conclusion is preliminary preliminary, and further experiments are necessary for confirmation.
The study was “one of the first,” says Seton, but he had several restrictions. According to her, given the small number of participants, researchers could skip subtle differences between people with me/CF and healthy controls. NAT explains that the pandemic stopped the set. “We hoped to hire at least 10, if not 20 [people with the condition]he says. His team registered people with an average to the heavy force of ME/CFS, but people with extreme ME/CFS could not participate from their physical restrictions. Despite these warnings, Seton says that such comprehensive research, like this, is “the path forward in [ME/CFS] research.”
Further, NAT plans to study Long cycleThe field “I think that this is how I can benefit patients Me/CFS much faster than I could differently,” he says. According to Nata, it is easier to gain a large cohort, given the growing number of people with a long provk and because their condition began after the same viral trigger, which can help standardize the analysis, says NAT. He has already begun clinical trials of intravenous immunoglobulin, general treatment of autoimmune disorders or infections, in people with a long cycle. “I think that if it shows the benefit, it will benefit [other ME/CFS] Patients too. “
Meanwhile, the west hopes that this study will increase awareness of her disease. Before the study, many people – even medical workers – did not believe that her condition was real. “I was Gazlit left and right whenever I tried to get help,” she says. “As soon as I returned from NIH, my experience in my local community has changed dramatically.” No one asked a question about her condition as soon as NIH expressed it in writing. “But there were only 17 of us [took part]And I would like all patients with me/CFS could be taken seriously what I was, ”she says.
