Sunday 24 February 2013

Latest research on ME and autoimmunity

Am so happy that bright minds are engaged in biomedical research  (though I, naturally, remain cautious about shouting anything concrete from the rooftops). This is interesting, latest from Kenny de Meirleir and Vincent Lombardi.  I am sure there is autommunity implicated in my own illness, since I developed uveitis a few years ago, which I hate even typing, I try to banish it, was so disruptive and frightening.

I wish the 'ME-CFS' clinic in my last post would include this little snippet in their GP/patient leaflets, instead of indulging their fantasies:

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a debilitating disorder
characterized by multi-systemic neuropathology, gastrointestinal
(GI) dysfunction, inflammation, and innate
immune dysregulation (1). Immunological symptoms often
include viral reactivation, cytokine and chemokine
irregularities, and decreased natural killer (NK) cell function
(2-7). Additionally, reports of individuals with MEexpressing
autoantibodies (8, 9), and the successful treatment
of ME with the B-cell-depleting drug rituximab (10, 11),
suggest that a subset of these individuals may suffer from an
uncharacterized antibody-mediated autoimmunity.
Little is known regarding the pathophysiology of ME;
therefore, diseases with similar or overlapping symptoms
often serve as useful guides when exploring new
experimental concepts. For instance, autoimmune diseases
such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE) have many symptoms that overlap with
those of ME. Neurological manifestations often associated
with ME (12), are analogous to the neuroinflammation and
cognitive abnormalities associated with MS and SLE (13,
14). Additionally, GI aberrations, which are common to
individuals with MS and SLE (15-17), are among the most
frequent symptoms reported by those with ME (18, 19).
 


The whole de Meirleir research paper is here.

2 comments:

Digitalesse said...

Interesting. After a year of what felt like getting ME all over again (even though I already had ME), and then been sent for test after test after developing new and atypical symptoms, I have just tested positive for ANA antibodies. Whether this is significant or not remains to be seen. The neurologist I was referred to has now written to my GP suggesting a referral to another specialist for investigations into auto immune disorders. So...we'll see...

nmj said...

Sorry you have had such bad relapse, Dig. I would not be in the least surprised if autoimmunity is found to be complicit in development of ME. The researchers will get there, with time and funding! This is what makes it utterly indefensible that so much money has been wasted on mumbojumbo aka PACE.