SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND BLOOD BIOMARKERS FOR CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME AND DISCOVER ROBUST EVIDENCE THAT CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME IS A BIOLOGICAL ILLNESS

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

WASHINGTON: Chronic exhaustion (fatigue) disorder is a disorder with different stages that can be recognized through biomarkers in the blood, scientists said, offering expectations that earlier diagnostics may enhance treatment. 

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health said their discoveries represent the first strong evidence confirming that the disorder is a biological syndrome rather than a psychological illness, and the first proof that the syndrome has distinct stages."

With no known cause or cure, this disorder - formally referred as encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) - has confused the medical group for quite a long period of time. It can result in great tiredness, cerebral pains (headaches), trouble thinking and focusing and muscle torment.

"We now have proof affirming that a huge number (millions) of individuals with this disorder already know, that encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome) isn't psychological but it is a biological disease," said Mady Hornig, lead author of study, associate professor of the study of epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School.

"Our outcomes ought to quicken the process of making the diagnosis after people first fall sick and additionally discoveries of new treatment techniques concentrating on these early blood markers."

Scientists tested levels of 51 immune biomarkers in blood plasma tests from 298 patients and 348 healthy subjects.

Particular patterns showed up in patients who had this syndrome three years or less. These patterns were not obvious in healthier individuals or patients who had the illness for more than three years.

The individuals who had been affected with this disorder for less than three years had more elevated amounts of immune molecules called cytokines.

"The association was unusually strong with a cytokine called interferon gamma that has been linked to the fatigue that follows many viral infections, including Epstein-Barr virus," said the study.

However, cytokine levels did not give explanation about symptoms seriousness, which regularly changes. Patients may have great days and terrible days.

"It appears that encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome) patients are flush with cytokines until around the three-year mark, at which point the immune system shows evidence of exhaustion and cytokine levels drop," said Hornig.

Scientists said that the discoveries support the theory that the disorder may strike when susceptible patients fall sick with a typical virus infection like Epstein-Barr, which causes mononucleosis, and they are not able to recuperate.

"The immune reaction gets to be similar to a car stuck in high gear," the university said in a declaration.

Past research has precluded two viruses thought to be causing about encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome), including Xenotropic Murine Leukemia virus and Murine Retrovirus-like virus.

"This study delivers what has eluded us for so long: unequivocal evidence of immunological dysfunction in encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome) and diagnostic biomarkers for disease," said senior author W. Ian Lipkin, professor of epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School.

"The difficulty we are struggling to address in a parallel microbiome project is the thing that triggers this dysfunction."

The report was published in the journal Science Advances.