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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia Leading Research. Delivering Hope.Open Medicine Foundation® Canada
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25-Day Metabolite Monitoring Study of ME/CFS patients

Study Aim

The study will meticulously analyze daily changes in metabolites from blood samples of individuals with ME/CFS over 25 days, to uncover the complex biological processes contributing to the condition and facilitate patient clustering by dynamic changes, thereby addressing the challenge of clinical and biological diversity within the ME/CFS population.

Investigators

  • Jarred Younger, BA, PhD

  • Christopher Armstrong, PhD

Updates and Potential

  • Data collection complete and analysis nearly complete.
  • Paper drafting has begun but waiting for more guidance on data analysis workflow.
STUDY HYPOTHESIS AND DESCRIPTION

We’re investigating how disruptions in energy metabolism play a role in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). While past studies have found differences in certain substances in the blood of ME/CFS patients compared to healthy people, there’s no consistent marker found yet. This might be because ME/CFS patients are quite diverse in both their symptoms and biology. 

To tackle this, our study uses a method called repeated-measures design. This helps reduce differences between individuals and makes our findings more reliable, especially for conditions like ME/CFS where there’s a lot of variability. 

We’re collecting blood samples from ME/CFS patients every day for 25 days. By carefully analyzing these samples using this method, we hope to understand better how the body’s chemistry changes over time in ME/CFS. Our aim is to group patients based on these changing patterns rather than just their static traits, which could lead to better ways to understand and treat ME/CFS in the future.

OBJECTIVES

L'image représente un professionnel de la santé en train de prélever un échantillon de sang sur un patient. Le professionnel porte des gants bleus et un masque chirurgical, et suit les protocoles sanitaires appropriés pour garantir un environnement stérile.

  1. Pattern biology that corresponds to patient symptoms over the course of a day in two international cohorts.
  2. Track the biological impact of meals, social tasks, mental tasks and exercise tasks on ME/CFS patients compared to controls.
  3. Cluster patients based on similar biology-symptom dynamics.

Consent management

Consent Preferences

Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) Form 

Microvesicles and viral sequencing
Microvesicles are a type of extracellular vesicle that is released from the cell membrane. Vesicles are small, fluid-filled sacs or vacuoles within the body. Sequencing is a technique used to determine the exact sequence of bases (A, C, G, and T) in a DNA (or viral) molecule.
NMR Metabolomics
NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is an instrument/tool used to perform metabolic studies, metabolic profiling, and metabolomics in biofluids and tissues for more than 40 years using magnetic fields. There is a very close connection between metabolic measurements and NMR. This connection has flourished because of NMR’s many unique strengths for characterizing complex mixtures’ chemical composition.
Proteomics
The large-scale study of proteins, which are large, complex molecules that are required for structure, function, and regulation of the human body's tissues and organs.
Autoantibodies
Antibodies that react with self-molecules and that occur in healthy individuals and are referred to as natural antibodies or autoantibodies.
Extracellular DNA for viral reactivation and Mitochondrial DNA
exDNA (extracellular DNA), exDNA is often secreted actively and is used to perform several tasks, thereby offering an attractive target or tool for biotechnological, medical, environmental, and general microbiological applications. Viruses are intracellular parasites that rely to a significant extent on the host cell for replication. Viral reactivation occurs when an active replication of the viral genome results in a lytic (degradation of the cell) infection characterized by the release of new progeny (descendant) virus particles.
Immune cell profiling
The immune system has many important regulatory roles in disease development and progression. Given the emergence of effective immune therapies, reliable predictors of response are needed. Immune cell profiling determines response by evaluating immune cell populations from treated and untreated samples. For our purposes, we will evaluate the white blood cell response to the viral infection using a process called “Cytof.”
Leukocyte Genomics
A leukocyte is a colorless cell circulating in the blood and body fluids and is involved in counteracting foreign substances and disease. A genome is all genetic material of an organism. Genomics is a biology field focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. Therefore, leukocyte genomics is the study of all genetic material of leukocytes.
Metabolomics
Metabolomics is a way to study metabolism – that is, through measuring amounts of the metabolites (small molecules) produced by our bodies as we convert food into energy and other molecules that our cells need to survive. Metabolomics technology is ‘large-scale,’ meaning that several thousand metabolites can be measured from a single sample of e.g., blood or urine.
Micro RNA
Cells use Micro RNA to control whether a particular gene is making too much, too little or the normal amount of its protein at a particular time.