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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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Viral risk factors in ME/CFS

Study Aim

This project aims to characterize viral factors associated with immune responses and inflammation in ME/CFS.

Investigators

  • Dawei Li, PhD
  • Ronald Davis, PhD

Updates and Potential

  • IRB/Ethics approval completed.

  •  Samples are all collected.

  • Data collection complete and analysis nearly complete.

  • Paper drafting has begun but waiting for more guidance on data analysis workflow.

  • Another 3 months needed until paper submission.

STUDY HYPOTHESIS AND DESCRIPTION

Viral triggers of immune response in ME/CFS have long been speculated but remain poorly understood. Germline endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) and somatic viral infections both have significant impacts on immune response and have been studied for years; however, the previous studies mainly focused on commonly tested viral pathogens or several known ERV candidates. Not surprisingly, none has been proven to be common to ME/CFS patients. A comprehensive analysis of the full spectrum of ERVs and the virome is likely to change our understanding of the roles of ERVs and viral infections in ME/CFS. This proposal is aimed to develop novel algorithms to investigate the contributions of genome-wide ERVs and the human virome to ME/CFS.

OBJECTIVES

Two young intercultural professionals in whitecoats discussing microchip scheme while one of them pointing at computer screen

  1. Investigate somatic viral infections (such as the human virome and virome-wide viral infections) and germline viral sequences (such as endogenous retrovirus variants) in patient genomes.
  2. Develop the analytic methods based on a novel algorithm and apply it to the pilot dataset from ME/CFS patients.
  3. Identify viral factors associated with ME/CFS and/or related phenotypes.

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.