The issue of autoimmune antibodies seems to have become more complex. I.e. rituximab didn't work; rituximab removed CD20 B cells (not all B cells) which were thought to be producing the autoantibodies. Therefore, I'm not clear that autoantibodies are thought to be a key player at the moment. Anyone know whether there are other autoantibody producing cells [i.e. other than CD20 B cells]?
Also, the test may generate false positives/negatives; OMF proposed a way to improve these tests i.e. remove false positives/negatives [https://www.omf.ngo/2018/02/12/tweak-assay-bolster-disease-detection-stanford-medicine-news-center/]. Anyone fancy trying to get a Member of the European Parliament (Horizon 2020), or a member of Congress/house of Representatives, to support this?
I'd still like to see the autoantibody work pursued i.e. to develop tests and to identify all causal antibodies. If you/a member of your family have an autoimmune disease then it's important. Also, understanding one autoimmune case would clarify the disease mechanism. As Vicky Whittemore (NIH) said at the 2018 Invest in ME Conference we are still at the stage of trying to understand the disease mechanism in ME/CFS.
