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Write-up of the Invest in ME conference via The Canary

Bob

Senior Member
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16,455
Location
England (south coast)
Last edited:

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
The Canary said:
Data from an attempt to identify biomarkers by analysing bacterial DNA from the gut microbiome of ME/CFS patients was presented by Prof. Maureen Hanson, of Cornell University. The study showed a lower diversity of bacterial species present in the gut of ME/CFS patients compare to controls. This lower diversity of gut bacteria is also found in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, both of which are caused by a malfunctioning immune system.

The study failed to produce reliable biomarkers as the data produced and model used in the study was only 53% successful in identifying the results of patients suffering from ME/CFS compared to controls. This may change soon as Hanson tantalised the conference with news of an as yet unpublished study, using microbiome metabolites as biomarkers, that has achieved 100% accuracy in diagnosing ME/CFS.
The Canary said:
Initial unpublished results presented during the conference suggested three possible biomarkers in severe ME/CFS:

  • Biotin a.k.a vitamin B7 – deficiency in biotin was found. It is normally manufactured by the human body or provided as a metabolite by bacteria in our gut.
  • Tryptophan – deficiency in tryptophan was found. This is an essential amino acid which the body cannot make. The deficiency was possibly caused by too much of a particular enzymebeing present, which breaks down tryptophan.
  • Tetrahydrobiopterin a.k.a. BH4 – deficiency in BH4 was found. It is used in the synthesis of neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin.
The results obtained also showed deficiencies, in the severley ill patients, of the citric acid cycle, which is one of the major pathways for energy production in the body. Davis is hopeful that some of the findings, once verified, will be useful in people less severely ill with ME/CFS. The current set of data, which will eventually be made publicly available, Davis hopes will enable easier funding for the next steps of his, and others, research into ME/CFS.
 

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
I don't think this is accurate, is it?

Canary said:
Davis had trouble raising funds from the usual funding bodies, so he had to collect funds privately. Unfortunately this meant he could not include the numbers originally planned for, and the study consists of three severely ill ME/CFS patients (one being his son) and 43 healthy controls.

I thought the study was fully funded and was going to have 20 PWME? (Or 25?)
 

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
I don't think this is accurate, is it?



I thought the study was fully funded and was going to have 20 PWME? (Or 25?)

I see Janet Dafoe corrected it:

Janet Dafoe said:
CORRECTION : Ron Davis's Big Data study of severely ill patients has 20 ME/CFS Patients and 10 healthy controls, and will collect billions of data points. The initial pilot data from Metabolon, measuring metabolites only, was from 3 patients and 43 healthy controls. Two different data sets.

I didn't realise that this was just pilot data! Pretty amazing for pilot data.

Thanks, @Rose49.
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
The Canary said:
Data from an attempt to identify biomarkers by analysing bacterial DNA from the gut microbiome of ME/CFS patients was presented by Prof. Maureen Hanson, of Cornell University. The study showed a lower diversity of bacterial species present in the gut of ME/CFS patients compare to controls. This lower diversity of gut bacteria is also found in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, both of which are caused by a malfunctioning immune system.

I'm becoming more and more suspicious that there is a connection between at least a subset of ME and chronic ulcerative colitis, the microbiome, and autoimmunity.

My mother was diagnosed with chronic ulcerative colitis in her early 30's. Just prior to that, she went through a period in which she said that she felt like she was "living in a constant 'fog.'"

Twenty years later, about three years after the post-viral onset of ME, I was also diagnosed with chronic ulcerative colitis - only to have that diagnosis reversed about a month later at a large university hospital. The second doctor said it was non-specific inflammation and "friable" tissue. He implied it was a transitory condition, but did not seem to grasp that I'd already had it for a couple of years.

Is it possible, I wonder, for a strong viral immune response to somehow wipe out bacteria in the gut and upset the balance of the microbiome?