Announcing OMF's First ME/CFS Clinical Trial!

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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

Driving research of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS),
Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia and Long COVID.

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iCPET Omics Studies of ME/CFS

STUDY AIM

This Harvard study evaluates the different explanations of heart preload failure in ME/CFS patients to determine which is active in many, if not all, ME/CFS patients. The Computation Center is now seeking to better understand the causes of ME/CFS (PLF, the high flow type) as well as to identify potential drug targets for future therapies.

LEAD INVESTIGATORS
  • Wenzhong Xiao, PhD
Updates and Potential
  • Data of the iCPET omics studies of ME/CFS (cytokines, metabolites, and proteins from pulmonary arterial and radial arterial blood) are complete.
  • Computational analysis and manuscripts preparation are underway.
  • An enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine response identified between the pulmonary and radial arteries in patients compared to symptomatic controls.
  • The small molecule metabolic response to exercise appears comparable or exaggerated between the ME/CFS patients and symptomatic controls, depending upon the computational approach.
  • Proteomic profiles of the radial and pulmonary arteries have been obtained. Identified the signature of three proteins that distinguish ME/CFS from controls. Planning a verification study of the proteomic signature. 
STUDY HYPOTHESIS AND DESCRIPTION

Using a biorepository of plasma from more than 300 patients with ME/CFS, investigators have identified a form of heart failure or “Preload Heart Failure” (PLF). It presents in two forms: low flow and high flow. Many of these patients suffer from dysautonomia and many have had the diagnosis of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a syndrome that involve both the cardiopulmonary and the peripheral vascular systems as they are modulated by the autonomic nervous system.

Why these systems become dysregulated causing the dizziness, fatigue, inability to exercise, lightheadedness, fainting, and sometimes fast heart rate, nausea, anxiety, and blurred vision is not known. It is likely that intense study of the interaction of these systems will lead to a much better understanding of the origin of this dysregulation.

It is the hope these studies in ME/CFS patients undergoing cardiopulmonary exercise testing will expand the biorepository and lead to better understanding of the causes of ME/CFS (PLF, the high flow type) as well as to identify potential drug targets for future therapies. 

OBJECTIVES

3D illustration of the cardiovascular system

  1. Analyze data collected throughout the study.

  2. Identify metabolomic, proteomic, and inflammatory marker differences in the blood of patients with preload heart failure and a diagnosis of ME/CFS.

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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.
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.
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.