Mitochondrial study on the skin of fibro patients

[alex3619]

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1567724915000215

Abstract
Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome with unknown etiology. Recent studies have shown some evidence demonstrating that oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation may have a role in the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia. Despite several skin-related symptoms accompanied by small fiber neuropathy have been studied in FM, these mitochondrial changes have not been yet studied in this tissue. Skin biopsies from patients showed a significant mitochondrial dysfunction with reduced mitochondrial chain activities and bioenergetics levels and increased levels of oxidative stress. These data were related to increased levels of inflammation and correlated with pain, the principal symptom of FM. All these parameters have shown a role in peripheral nerve damage which has been observed in FM as a possible responsible to allodynia. Our findings may support the role of oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation as interdependent events in the pathophysiology of FM with a special role in the peripheral alterations.

Full article requires research gate access, and can be found here:

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._events_in_skin_of_patients_with_Fibromyalgia

Thanks go to Co-cure alerts for this heads up.

My comments - this is a tiny pilot study with what appears to be dramatic results. The graphic Fig. 1 B shows it all. The skin biopsies in fibro show skin that is more dead than alive. Its no wonder nerves are dying.

This raises important questions. In ME or CFS or SEID or Fibro are there major differences in mitochondrial function in different tissues? Can we ever rely on blood tests again?

 

[alex3619]

Does anyone know of mitochondrial studies on gut biopsies in ME?

 

[alex3619]

A blog on this by Cort Johnson:

http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2015/03/04/is-fibromyalgia-a-mitochondrial-disorder/

 

[Gamboa]

Thanks @alex3619

I am fascinated by any mitochondrial studies since I believe mitochondrial dysfunction plays a role in ME/CFS as well as fibromyalgia. I don't think it is necessarily the cause of our problem but rather a link in a chain of events.

I have a number of test results that point to mitochondrial dysfunction and have found some relief by taking mitochondrial supplements such as ribose, coQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, magnesium, and lipoic acid. I sort of follow Dr.Myhill's protocol. I think Dr. Newton in the UK has also found evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in ME? I believe Dr. Klimas in the US is studying it as well and has a study going on ( through the university she is with) regarding it .

I look forward to additional research and published results. Right now it is very difficult, if not impossible, for most people to get any kind of mitochondrial testing done. Here in Canada, and I assume it is the same elsewhere, there are only a couple of places that you can get muscle biopsies done which are considered the gold standard to diagnose a mito.disorder. These places often will only deal with patients who have an inherited mitochondrial disorder, not an acquired one, such as would be the case in ME/CFS.There are a number of blood tests that can be done but these are usually done by specialty labs only.

 

[Bob]

A blog on this by Cort Johnson:
http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2015/03/04/is-fibromyalgia-a-mitochondrial-disorder/

Does anyone happen to know anything about the following? (I can't find any details anywhere):

The Chronic Fatigue Initiative’s announcement that they’re going to be digging into the mitochondria suggests we may get some much-needed high-powered studies into the field.

 

[Never Give Up]

Spanish researchers are producing a lot of promising research, but as my lung cancer researcher MD, PhD friend says, "It's very interesting, but no one has replicated any of it yet, so we'll have to wait and see." It doesn't look like anyone is trying to replicate any of their research, which makes me wonder if they have a credibility problem in general. Then again, not much in the FM/ME world ever gets replicated.

I've seen abnormal findings in fibromyalgia studies on mitochondria and mast cells in the skin dating back to the 1980's. I'm a bit perplexed as to why this hasn't gone anywhere useful by now.

The OMI/OMF approach is very appealing, their collaboration ideal, rather than competition, may just provide the change we need to move things forward in a meaningful way.

 

[alex3619]

In science there is the issue that even with independent replication there is no guarantee.

Look at it another way. So much in science is about reducing risk of error and bias. Reducing risk. There are no guarantees.

So double blinding, placebo controls, adequate statistical power, independent replication, peer reviews, journal editors, competing scientific teams, study protocols, open publishing, etc. etc. are about reducing risk from various biases and potential sources of error.

The more of these are in place, the lower the risk. You can never remove risk entirely though.

The way I like to think of things is that unless I have grounds to think something is wrong, I take it as tentatively right. I also think many results deserve further investigation to see if they are robust. Robust to investigation, not True.