Enterovirus-Induced ANT Autoantibodies: the Cause of ME/CFS?

[Jesse2233]

Keep sending emails.

I'll send some as well so it's not all on Hip

 

[me/cfs 27931]

Is myocarditis at ME/CFS onset common? One might expect this to be fairly common if this theory is correct.

I should add that I was diagnosed with myocarditis during my onset viral infection.

 

[boombachi]

A very interesting post. I don't really understand the science but I understand enough to see that it is an interesting connection that you have made. Thank you for your efforts in researching this and contacting researchers. I will watch this thread with interest.

 

[JES]

Is myocarditis at ME/CFS onset common? One might expect this to be fairly common if this theory is correct.

I should add that I was diagnosed with myocarditis during my onset viral infection.

AFAIK it's not that common. I've had myocarditis 3 or 4 times since onset of my CFS/ME symptoms, and myocarditis is commonly caused by Enteroviruses (especially CVB3). But it's not really common to read about it here on these forums, so again it would point to different causes existing for this disease.

 

[Hip]

Is myocarditis at ME/CFS onset common? One might expect this to be fairly common if this theory is correct.

I am not aware of myocarditis (heart muscle infection) being more common in ME/CFS patients.

However, I don't think Professor Peter Behan was proposing that coxsackievirus B (CVB) myocarditis and the ANT autoantibodies it generates are the cause of ME/CFS.

Rather it is the CVB skeletal muscle infections (which numerous studies have found in ME/CFS patients) which he proposed might be generating ANT autoantibodies (or some similar autoantibody), and these ANT autoantibodies would then block the energy metabolism in those skeletal muscles, leading to the well-known ME/CFS symptoms of: lack of strength or energy in the muscles, rapid muscular fatigability, and PEM after physical exercise using the muscles.

(Skeletal muscles are the ones you use for any physical movement of the body).


So we are not saying CVB myocarditis is causing ME/CFS; rather we are just using CVB heart muscle infection as a model for understanding the CVB skeletal muscle infections in ME/CFS.

We know from the German research that CVB heart muscle infections generate ANT autoantibodies which have been shown to target the mitochondria of the heart muscle, and thereby impair mitochondrial energy production in this muscle.

In fact, in the guinea pig study detailed in the first post of this thread, the energy output of hearts affected by the ANT autoantibody was five times less than the energy output of the hearts of healthy animals. So the ANT autoantibody causes a major blockage of energy production in the heart muscle.

Thus the question then arises: if CVB infection of the heart muscle can generate ANT autoantibodies which block heart muscle energy production, can the same ANT autoantibodies appear in CVB infections of the skeletal muscle, causing similar energy production blockages in those skeletal muscles? If so, this could explain some of the primary ME/CFS symptoms.

 

[sometexan84]

I'm wondering if these "Myocardial Antibody" or "Cardiac Antibody" tests include ANT antibodies?

That's so generic... "Myocardial", I wish I knew what that meant. Is it a test that looks for all heart target antigens including ANT, myosin, heat shock protein, tropomyosin, etc etc, and just dumbs it down to "Myocardial Antibodies" for simplicity?

https://testdirectory.questdiagnost...ocardial-antibody-screen-with-reflex-to-titer

To Others: The connection made in this thread (from 2017) has still not been disproven, or studied. And it makes a hell of a lot of sense.