Potential of Activin B as a Clinical Biomarker in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Abstract

Reliable serum biomarkers are of immense need for diagnostic purposes of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)—a disabling and complex disease for which diagnosis is mainly based on clinical symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible diagnostic potential of activin B by directly comparing 134 cases of ME/CFS with 54 healthy controls. Analyses of human activin B level in plasma samples were performed using a validated human activin B ELISA assay. The results of the study show that activin B levels did not differ statistically significantly between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls (p = 0.6511). No gender or age-related differences in activin B levels were observed in the ME/CFS group and healthy controls. The level of activin B tended to decrease with increasing visual analogue scale score (r = −0.2004; p = 0.5085) nevertheless the results obtained so far does not support the clinical utility of activin B as a biomarker for ME/CFS.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): An Overview

“…There is a need for unbiased, specific diagnostic biomarkers for ME/CFS to expedite patient diagnosis and treatment, as some previously proposed biomarkers such as activin B are controversially discussed [ 164 , 165 ]. miRNA profiles represent a promising strategy to discover biomarkers and more recently to diagnose patients.…”

EBV/HHV-6A dUTPases contribute to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome pathophysiology by enhancing TFH cell differentiation and extrafollicular activities

“…The reasons for these differences are unknown but may reflect differences in the genetic background of these individuals and/or variations in the case definition criteria used. However, a recent study by the same group using a different cohort of patients with ME/CFS (n = 134) reported no significant differences in activin B plasma levels between ME/CFS cases and controls (n = 54) (33). Thus, using activin B levels as a biomarker for ME/CFS remains controversial.…”

Biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a systematic review

“…In total, 56 of the studies recruited patients that met the FC [ 15 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 28 , 31 , 35 – 42 , 44 , 45 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 , 59 , 61 – 69 , 71 , 78 , 79 , 83 , 84 , 86 – 89 , 92 – 95 , 98 , 99 , 101 , 102 , 105 , 108 , 111 – 115 ]. Fourteen studies recruited patients that met the CCC [ 17 , 23 , 32 , 46 , 47 , 57 , 58 , 73 , 82 , 91 , 100 , 103 , 104 , 107 ].…”

“…There were 13 studies that reported on endovascular/circulatory biomarkers (Additional file 2 , Table S4) [ 16 , 19 , 24 , 30 , 34 , 35 , 44 , 47 , 57 , 58 , 63 , 70 , 74 , 85 , 94 , 100 , 101 , 105 ]. Endothelial function was assessed in two studies [ 47 , 100 ].…”

“…Circulating protein-level differences in ME/CFS patients compared to HC were investigated in six studies [ 16 , 44 , 57 , 58 , 74 , 105 ]. Serum activin B levels were measured in three studies [ 44 , 57 , 58 ].…”