Chronic viral infections in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

Rasa, Santa; Nora-Krūkle, Zaiga; Henning, Nina; Eliassen, Eva; Shikova, Evelina; Harrer, Thomas; Scheibenbogen, Carmen; Murovska, Modra; Prusty, Bhupesh K.

doi:10.1186/s12967-018-1644-y

Cited by 242 publications

(297 citation statements)

References 244 publications

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“…The importance of the present study relies in that it shows, for the first time, that the activation of TEs, in particular some HERV sequences, is a mechanism linked to FM, potentially explaining the reasons for repeated failures in detecting exogenous infectious agents as etiologic triggers of the disease and for the flu-like symptoms patients experience [11][12][13][14]. However, reduced sample size and inability to identify specific activated genomic loci with the method used (limitation of approach), prevented detection of molecular TE patterns between FM patients with or without comorbid ME/CFS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Although separate clinical diagnostic criteria are described for FM and ME/CFS [2,3,[6][7][8][9][10], both conditions are associated with common features including alterations in immune function and overlapping infectious symptomatology such as flu-like symptoms [11,12]. As a result, researchers have investigated a possible viral etiology of the disease [13,14]. However, to date, no clear correlation between FM or ME/CFS and viral infection has been established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Activation of Transposable Elements in Immune Cells of Fibromyalgia Patients

Ovejero

Sadones

Sánchez-Fito

et al. 2020

IJMS

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Advancements in nucleic acid sequencing technology combined with an unprecedented availability of metadata have revealed that 45% of the human genome constituted by transposable elements (TEs) is not only transcriptionally active but also physiologically necessary. Dysregulation of TEs, including human retroviral endogenous sequences (HERVs) has been shown to associate with several neurologic and autoimmune diseases, including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). However, no study has yet addressed whether abnormal expression of these sequences correlates with fibromyalgia (FM), a disease frequently comorbid with ME/CFS. The work presented here shows, for the first time, that, in fact, HERVs of the H, K and W types are overexpressed in immune cells of FM patients with or without comorbid ME/CFS. Patients with increased HERV expression (N = 14) presented increased levels of interferon (INF-β and INF-γ) but unchanged levels of TNF-α. The findings reported in this study could explain the flu-like symptoms FM patients present with in clinical practice, in the absence of concomitant infections. Future work aimed at identifying specific genomic loci differentially affected in FM and/or ME/CFS is warranted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activation of Transposable Elements in Immune Cells of Fibromyalgia Patients

Ovejero

Sadones

Sánchez-Fito

et al. 2020

IJMS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The importance of the present study relies in that it shows, for the first time, that the activation of transposable elements, in particular some HERV sequences, is a mechanism linked to FM, potentially explaining the reasons for repeated failures in detecting exogenous infectious agents as etiologic triggers of the disease and for the flu-like symptoms patients experience [11][12][13][14]. Because of the reduced sample size and the limitation for identifying specific activated genomic loci with the method used, detection of molecular differences between FM patients suffering or not of comorbid ME/CFS was not possible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Although separate clinical diagnostic criteria are described for FM and ME/CFS [2,3,[6][7][8][9][10], common features such as alterations of the immune system and overlapping symptoms such as flu-like symptoms are described [11,12]. As such, many authors have investigated a possible viral etiology of the disease [13,14]. However, no clear correlation between FM or ME/CFS and viral infection has yet been established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activation of Transposable Elements in Immune Cells of Fibromyalgia Patients

Ovejero¹,

Sadones²,

Sánchez-Fito³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The development of nucleic acid sequencing technology and the unprecedented availability of metadata has evidenced that 45% of human genome constituted by transposable elements (TEs) is not only transcriptionally active but also physiologically needed. Aberrant regulation of TEs, and of human retroviral endogenous sequences (HERVs) in particular, associates with several neurologic and autoimmune diseases, including the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) frequently comorbid with fibromyalgia (FM). However, no study has yet addressed whether abnormal expression of these sequences correlates with FM. The work presented here shows, for the first time, that in fact HERVs of the H, K and W types are overexpressed in the cells of the immune system of FM patients with or without comorbid ME/CFS. The patients with increased HERV expression (N=14) presented increased levels of interferon (INF-β and INF-γ) but unchanged levels of TNF-α. In support of our proposal that TE activation is a contributor to FM, we find that the tRNA pools are decreased in comparison to matched healthy participants (N=14). The findings reported here could explain the flu-like symptoms FM patients present with in the absence of concomitant infections. Future work towards identifying specific genomic loci differentially affected in FM and ME/CFS is granted.

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“…The role of mast cells could be relevant in ME/CFS, as suggested by the clinical overlap between ME/CFS and mast cell activation disorder. Despite the lack of strong evidence for an increase of these mediators in these patients, 27 cytokine levels might correlate with symptoms severity, 28 and infections and depression 29 can also trigger stress and inflammation, 30,31 which have also been implicated in ME/CSF. 25,32 Several other mechanisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ME/CFS, including dysfunction of the neuroendocrine system.…”

Section: Clinical Therapeutics 844mentioning

confidence: 89%

Searching for Serum Antibodies to Neuronal Proteins in Patients With Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Giannoccaro

Cossins

Sørland

et al. 2019

Clinical Therapeutics

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Purpose: A role for the immune system in causing myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is long suspected, but few studies have looked for specific autoantibodies that might contribute to the symptoms. Our aim was to look for evidence of antibodies to neuronal proteins in patients with ME/CSF.Methods: Sera samples from 50 patients and 50 healthy individuals were sent coded to the Neuroimmunology Laboratory in Oxford. Screening for antibody binding to neuronal tissue was performed on brain tissue and neuronal cultures. Specific serum antibodies were assessed by antigenspecific cell-based assays and radioimmunoassays. After antibody testing, the associations between seropositive status and clinical data were investigated.Findings: Overall, 8 patients and 11 participants were found to have some serum immunoreactivity toward neuronal or neuromuscular junction proteins, but only 1 patient and 2 participants had specific serum antibodies. Nevertheless, seropositive status in patients with ME was associated with shorter duration since onset and a more severe disease.Implications:The results indicate no overall increased frequency of antibodies to neuronal proteins in ME/CSF and no evidence of a specific antibody that might be causative or contribute to clinical features in patients. However, the association of seropositive status with shorter duration of disease and more severe symptoms suggests a possible role of antibodies at onset in some patients and should be the focus of future studies. (Clin Ther. 2019;41:836e847)

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Chronic viral infections in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

Cited by 242 publications

References 244 publications

Activation of Transposable Elements in Immune Cells of Fibromyalgia Patients

Activation of Transposable Elements in Immune Cells of Fibromyalgia Patients

Activation of Transposable Elements in Immune Cells of Fibromyalgia Patients

Searching for Serum Antibodies to Neuronal Proteins in Patients With Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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