One of the main pieces of ME/CFS research to come out of Australia recently is a series of papers by the team led by Staines and co-director Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik, showing abnormalities in the genetic make-up and function of the immune systems of people with ME/CFS.
In research published during the past 12 months, the team found genetic mutations in the “threat receptors” of certain white blood cells in ME/CFS patients, and changes in the functions that these receptors control, such as energy production inside the cell. They also confirmed that immune cells affected by these changes fail to fight infection and cancer as well as they should.
The discovery of these faulty receptors may also have wider implications. “Nerve cells, muscle cells, pancreatic cells, intestinal cells, you name it, they all have these receptors in them,” he says. “And if these same changes [that are happening in white blood cells] are happening in every cell in the body, then the whole body is going to respond abnormally.” This could explain the complex and varied symptoms of ME/CFS “a huge amount”, says Staines. The team is in discussion with companies about producing a diagnostic test for the illness based on their findings.
