Abstract:
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) and Fibromyalgia are chronic illnesses that, despite their prevalence in society, are still of unknown aetiology. All three conditions present similar clinical symptoms and are difficult to diagnose due to a lack of appropriate biomarkers. Currently, diagnosis consists of satisfying clinical criteria and eliminating other conditions, a lengthy and often costly process for patients. The discovery of biomarkers would significantly speed up patient diagnosis and allow the development of pharmacological therapies that target the underlying metabolic causes of these diseases.
Metabolomics is an emerging research area used to characterise the metabolites present within biological specimens. Developments within this field now allow the analysis of thousands of metabolites within different samples and model systems, and have the potential to aid in unravelling the metabolic phenotypes that underpin complex metabolic diseases. ME/CFS, GWS and Fibromyalgia are three conditions that could benefit from a plasma/tissue metabolomics analysis, allowing a greater understanding of their aetiology and identify common pathways. An analysis of the literature in these conditions reveals alterations within pathways associated with energy and lipid metabolism with alterations in key metabolites associated with elevated oxidative stress. Understanding what might drive the elevated oxidative stress within all three illnesses will not only be important in future research but could also be a potential therapeutic target for antioxidant medications which could be implemented to reduce the symptom burden in these illnesses.
Source: MORTEN, Karl Jonathan and Davis, Leah and Lodge, Tiffany A. and Strong, James and Espejo-Oltra, José Andrés and Zalewski, Pawel and Pretorius, Etheresia, Altered Lipid, Energy Metabolism and Oxidative Stress Are Common Features in a Range of Chronic Conditions. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4455366 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4455366 (Full text available as PDF file)