The Shift: Top Science Journal Asserts Shift in Attitude Towards ME/CFS Has Occurred

Immune System

Mar 31

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"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a biological disease" Dr. Ian Lipkin's Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University

From NIH Director Francis Collins' high profile blog "Moving Toward Answers in ME/CFS", to the New York Times Opinion piece "Getting It Wrong on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" exposing the failures of the PACE trial, to the coverage of the Australians' search for a biomarker, the chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) community has been treated to some excellent press lately.Now comes a piece "Biological underpinnings of chronic fatigue syndrome begin to emerge" from the news section of Nature, one of the world's most read and most prestigious scientific journals. The article, written by Amy Maxmen, proclaims that a "shift" from viewing ME/CFS as psychosomatic to viewing it as a real disorder has occurred.The article is a far cry from some of sentiments of the "Life After XMRV" piece Nature did in 2011 in which Simon Wessely asserted that the patients' reactions to that finding would lead another generation of researchers to avoid ME/CFS research. (He rather memorably suggested that researchers would rather "work on images of Mohammed" than study it.) Even advocates for the disease, though, worried that the controversy would turn off researchers. Others, however, felt that the XMRV finding would galvanize researchers to use new technologies to understand ME/CFS.They were right. Wessely, it appears, was wrong.

World-Class Researchers Beginning to Take ME/CFS On

The Nature article makes it clear that a major cause for the shift occurring is the presence, for the first time ever, of world-class researchers willing to take ME/CFS on.Dr. Ian Lipkin, an immunologist with an unmatched resume, has not only lent his name and prestige to this disease, but his Columbia team's published findings - two of which have outlined dramatic changes in immune functioning in ME/CFS - have been at the center of this shift. The Columbia team's findings have been built on collaborations with expert clinicians, including Dr. Daniel Peterson and the Simmaron Research Foundation he advises. (Check out the slideshow that dominates the website for Lipkin's Center for Infection and Immunity (CII): one of the slides simply says, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a biological disease".)Ron Davis, with his many awards and the stunning story of his son's illness, is also reaching deep into the scientific world to find answers. The stunning picture of Davis holding the printed circuit he's using to decipher ME/CFS could be a metaphor for the search for the answer to ME/CFS itself. The answer is there in that maze somewhere, and it's going to be technology - probably new technology - that uncovers it.These two men, with their willingness to publicly take bold stands for this disease, have been at the forefront of the "shift" that appears to be occurring. Both men have had the ear of the NIH Director, Francis Collin. Their credibility has gone far in helping the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the country, take a reinvigorated approach to ME/CFS.Next, Nature cites the conclusion from the IOM report's "expert panel" that chronic fatigue sy nd rome is an under-studied physiological illness. Then comes mention of the intramural study led by Avindra Nath, the widely published and respected clinical director for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NINDS). An infectious neurologist, Dr. Nath is conducting the first intramural study in ME/CFS in decades at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Dr. Lipkin and Dr. Peterson are advisers on this intramural study.Others could have been mentioned: Mark Davis of Stanford, Derya Unutmaz of the Jackson Laboratory, Lasker Award winner Michael Houghton of the University of Alberta, Patrick McGowan of the University of Toronto and others new to the field. As the names line up, you do get the idea that, as Dr. Nath told Nature, "Researchers are thinking deeply about how to build the field.”Building the field, of course, is what the NIH’s recent decision to fund three ME/CFS research centers is all about. Yes, much more is needed, but this article, showing up in a highly cited journal, suggests that the tide may be slowing turning where it needs to turn the most - in the research community.

Ian Lipkin and the Center for Infection and Immunity Step Forward

Ian Lipkin is featured twice in the article, first stating:

“We now have a great deal of evidence to support that this is not only real, but a complex set of disorders. We are gathering clues that will lead to controlled clinical trials.”

Three studies from Lipkin and Hornig at Columbia are expected to be published shortly with one to be published next week. Don’t be surprised if, based on Lipkin’s comments, the CII lays the groundwork for something the chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) community has been waiting for a long time: evidence of biologically determined subsets, or in Lipkin's words, direct evidence that ME/CFS is made up of a "complex set of disorders".

The Simmaron Research Institute / Center For Infection and Immunity Collaboration

In its efforts to scientifically redefine ME/CFS, the Simmaron Research Foundation regularly partners with Dr. Lipkin’s Center for Infection and Immunity. Recent efforts included the spinal fluid study which showed dramatic alterations in immune functioning in the brain, the immune study which differentiated short from long duration ME/CFS patients, and the gut study about to be published. Simmaron is currently collaborating with the CII on additional phases of spinal fluid research and more.

Stay tuned for a Simmaron/CII study that will help to reshape our understanding of what ME/CFS is and how it should be treated.

The Gut and ME/CFS

The gut with its immense effect on the immune system is proving to be a fertile area of research on ME/CFS (see below). Perhaps no other team has pushed the ME/CFS gut connection more effectively recently than Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig at the CII.The Nature piece tantalized us a bit with news from Ian Lipkin that one of those studies showing an unusual pattern of gut flora in people with ME/CFS and IBS will be published soon.A quick look at what studies have told us (see below) about the gut and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) suggests that reduced gut floral diversity, possibly characterized by increased numbers of inflammatory bacteria may be common in ME/CFS.Importantly, every study that has looked for leaky gut – which involves the translocation of gut bacteria into the blood – where it could spark an immune response causing fatigue, pain and other symptoms – has found it. Most intriguingly, the research suggesting that exercise may negatively affect ME/CFS patients' gut flora and increase their leaky gut issues could help explain post-exertional malaise.

The Gut and ME/CFS – Recent Findings

Exercise in ME/CFS produces changes in gut flora, leaky gut and Inflammation - Shukla's 2015 study suggests that exercise not only changes the composition of the gut flora in people with ME/CFS but results in increased levels of gut bacteria leaking into the blood (possibly causing inflammation and post-exertional malaise.) The fun didn't stop there. The ME/CFS patients also had more trouble clearing the gut bacteria from their blood than the healthy controls.
People with ME/CFS have reduced gut flora diversity and leaky gut - Gilotreaux's 2016 study suggests more pro-inflammatory and fewer anti-inflammatory gut species are present in ME/CFS, and provides more evidence of bacteria sneaking through the gut lining and ending up in the blood.
Gut bacteria/viruses are infectious triggers in ME/CFS - Navaneetharaja's 2016 review paper suggests that gut bacteria and/or viruses have been overlooked in the search for an infectious trigger in ME/CFS.
ME/CFS is associated with reduced gut microbiome diversity and increased gut viral activity - Gilotreaux's 2016 case report of twins found reduced VO₂ max, decreased gut bacterial diversity and increased gut viral activity in the sick ME/CFS twin.
Antibiotics can improve gut flora and sleep in some ME/CFS patients - Jackson's 2015 Australian study suggests that erythromycin improved the gut flora and sleep in about a third of ME/CFS patients but not in the rest.
Altered gut flora diversity - Fremont's 2013 study shows increased abundance of the same bacterial family (Firmicuties) in ME/CFS as found in Shukla's 2015 study.
Leaky gut is associated with an autoimmune process - Maes 2013 study suggests that increased bacterial translocation (leaky gut) is associated with high levels of antibodies targeting serotonin. Patients with these antibodies had evidence of increased inflammation.
Leaky gut is associated with inflammation and symptom severity - Maes 2012 study suggests ME/CFS patients are mounting a very strong immune response to intestinal bacteria found in the blood that is leading to increased inflammation.
IBS/leaky gut subset is present in ME/CFS - Maes 2012 study shows one subset of ME/CFS patients (60%) has leaky gut and IBS while another subset does not.
Treating leaky gut in ME/CFS can reduce symptoms - Maes 2008 study shows that treating leaky gut with natural anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative substances (NAIOSs), such as glutamine, N-acetyl cysteine and zinc in conjunction with a leaky gut diet can significantly improve symptoms in ME/CFS

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