Kati
Patient in training
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News from the Nevada Center for biomedical research:
NVCBR researchers close in on a diagnostic test for ME/CFS patients
They explain where their most recent research is taking them, from this recently published paper featured on this thread
Read the full article by clicking the title.
NVCBR researchers close in on a diagnostic test for ME/CFS patients
They explain where their most recent research is taking them, from this recently published paper featured on this thread
NVCBR researchers close in on a diagnostic test for ME/CFS patients
Physicians lack effective tools to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of those who are impacted by ME/CFS, a complex and often disabling disease. That could change now that scientists at Nevada Center for Biomedical Research (NVCBR) have taken the first step in developing a clinical assay for diagnosing ME/CFS patients through the creation of an antibody immune signature.
The work was conducted in collaboration with Drs. Stephen Johnston and Phillip Stafford, at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, Innovations in Medicine, and Drs. Karen Schlauch and Richard Tillet, from the University of Nevada, Reno, as well as other researchers from around the world.
The group’s findings recently appeared in the prestigious journal Molecular Neurobiology http://bit.ly/2h55uXC.
The immune system produces proteins called antibodies that bind to the surface of pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, to neutralize the pathogens. Occasionally, this system becomes dysregulated and produces antibodies to our own tissue, resulting in autoimmunity. Utilizing a microchip comprised of thousands of small random protein sequences (referred to as random peptides), researchers at NVCBR, in collaboration with the scientists at ASU’s Biodesign Institute, screened blood sera from ME/CFS cases and healthy controls, from two geographic distinct cohorts, and identified a diagnostic pattern of antibody/peptide binding that identifies ME/CFS patients with high specificity and sensitivity.
“The purpose of screening sera with a random peptide array is to identify things that our body sees as foreign such as the molecules that make up pathogens or the proteins of our own tissue, in the context of autoimmunity,” explained Dr. Vincent Lombardi, NVCBR Research Director. “Now that we have identified a group of random peptides that differentially bind with the antibodies of ME/CFS patients, our next challenge is to figure out what antigens these random peptides represent in the real world. Much can be learned about the causes of this disease once the antigens are accurately identified.”
Read the full article by clicking the title.