Category: Biomarker

System and methods to determine ME/CFS & Long Covid disease severity using wearable sensor & survey data

Abstract:

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating disease with high probability of misdiagnosis and significant unmet medical needs that affects as many as 2.5 million people in the U.S. and causes enormous burden for patients, their caregivers, the healthcare system and society. Between 84 to 91 percent of ME/CFS patients are not yet diagnosed [6, 19], and at least one-quarter of ME/CFS patients are house- or bedbound at some point in their lives [12, 13]. The impact of ME/CFS to the U.S. economy, is about $17 to $24 billion in medical bills and lost income from lost household and labor force productivity per year [7, 13].

Current widely used diagnosis methods of ME/CFS and other diseases with similar clinical symptoms like Long COVID [6, 21] are highly dependent on patients’ self reporting [4, 5] and standardized survey, which are not optimal for medical diagnosis. In a joint study with The Bateman Horne Center (BHC)1, we designed and developed a system prototype that was able to stably collect terabytes of inertial measurement unit (IMU) time-series data, and analyzed multiple candidate parameters derived from them that could be used as reliable biomarkers for ME/CFS and other diseases with similar clinical symptoms.

Utilizing our system prototype, MetaProcessor, we conducted grouped t-tests on data collected from the EndoPAT study group (55 recruited, 51 participated, 30 ME/CFS, 15 Long COVID, 6 healthy control) to evaluate the predictive power of Upright Position Time (UpTime), Hours of Upright Activity (HUA), and Steps/Day. Through statistical analysis, we were able to assert the following for ME/CFS versus healthy control:

1. UpTime yielded a low p-value of 0.00004, indicating a significant difference between the groups and demonstrating its potential as a reliable measure for differentiating ME/CFS from healthy control populations.

2. HUA had a p-value of less than 0.00004, suggesting it could also serve as a useful measure for distinguishing ME/CFS from healthy control groups.

3. Steps/Day, x-axis and y-axis, had p-values of 0.01059 and 0.08665, respectively, indicating that step count may be relevant for differentiating ME/CFS individuals from healthy controls, but step count alone may not be sufficient to reliably distinguish between these groups.

In a linear regression analysis, we found a moderately positive correlation between UpTime and HUA with r 2 = 0.68. Overall, we can confidently conclude that UpTime is a superior overall predictor due to its objective nature and the lowest p-values observed across all groups.

Source: System and methods to determine ME/CFS & Long Covid disease severity using wearable sensor & survey data. Sun, Y. Thesis, Bachelor of Science, The University of Utah. https://ccs.neu.edu/~ysun/publications/system-and-methods-to-determine-mecfs-and-longcovid-disease-severity-using-wearable-sensor-and-survey-data.pdf (Full text)

Bioimpedance spectroscopy characterization of osmotic stress processes in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME-CFS) blood samples

Abstract:

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/ CFS) is a disabling, chronic, multi-system and complex disease. Currently, there are no specific laboratory tests to directly [diagnose ME/CFS](https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/symptoms-diagnosis/diagnosis.html). In this work we study the use of impedance spectroscopy as a potential technique for the diagnosis of this disease. A specific device for the electrical characterization of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was designed and implemented.

Impedance spectroscopy measurements in the range from 1 Hz to 500 MHz were made after osmotic stress of the samples with sodium chloride solution 1M. The evolution in time after the osmotic stress at two specific frequencies (1.36 kHz and 154 kHz) was analysed. The device showed its sensitivity to the presence of cells and the evolution of the osmotic process. Higher values of impedance were measured for 1.36 kHz in ME/CFS patients compared to control samples. Results help to further understand the relation of bioimpedance measurements with ME/CFS samples physical properties and osmotic processes.

Source: Alberto Olmo Fernández, Sara Martínez Rodríguez, Daniel Martín Fernández, et al. Bioimpedance spectroscopy characterization of osmotic stress processes in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME-CFS) blood samples. Authorea. July 11, 2023.
DOI: 10.22541/au.168909663.38868952/v1 https://www.authorea.com/doi/full/10.22541/au.168909663.38868952/v1 (Full text)

A systematic review and meta-analysis of urinary biomarkers in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

Abstract:

Background: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a multifactorial illness that affects many body systems including the immune, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and urinary systems. There is currently no universal diagnostic marker or targeted treatment for ME/CFS. Urine is a non-invasive sample that provides biomarkers that may have the potential to be used in a diagnostic capacity for ME/CFS. While there are several studies investigating urine-based biomarkers for ME/CFS, there are no published systematic reviews to summarise existing evidence of these markers. The aim of this systematic review was to compile and appraise literature on urinary-based biomarkers in ME/CFS patients compared with healthy controls.

Methods: Three databases: Embase, PubMed, and Scopus were searched for articles pertaining to urinary biomarkers for ME/CFS compared with healthy controls published between December 1994 to December 2022. The final articles included in this review were determined through application of specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality and bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Control Studies. A meta-analysis according to Cochrane guidelines was conducted on select studies, in particular, those that investigate urinary free cortisol levels in ME/CFS patients compared to healthy controls using the program STATA 17.

Results: Twenty-one studies were included in this review. All of the studies investigated urinary-based markers in ME/CFS patients compared with healthy controls. The reported changes in urinary outputs include urinary free cortisol (38.10%), carnitine (28.6%), iodine (4.76%), and the metabolome (42.86%). In most cases, there was minimal overlap in the main outcomes measured across the studies, however, differences in urinary free cortisol between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls were commonly reported. Seven studies investigating urinary free cortisol were included in the meta-analysis. While there were significant differences found in urinary free cortisol levels in ME/CFS patients, there was also substantial heterogeneity across the included studies that makes drawing conclusions difficult.

Conclusions: There is limited evidence suggesting a consistent and specific potential urinary-based biomarker for ME/CFS. Further investigations using more standardised methodologies and more stringent case criteria may be able to identify pathophysiological differences with diagnostic potential in ME/CFS patients compared with healthy controls.

Source: Taccori A, Maksoud R, Eaton-Fitch N, Patel M, Marshall-Gradisnik S. A systematic review and meta-analysis of urinary biomarkers in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). J Transl Med. 2023 Jul 5;21(1):440. doi: 10.1186/s12967-023-04295-0. PMID: 37408028; PMCID: PMC10320942. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10320942/ (Full text)

Comprehensive profiling of the human intestinal DNA virome and prediction of disease-associated bacterial hosts in severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Abstract:

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling disorder of unknown etiology with severely affected patients being house- and/or bedbound. A historical association with chronic virus infection and subsequent recent reports correlating intestinal microbial dysbiosis with disease pathology prompted us to analyze the intestinal virome in a small cohort of severely-affected ME/CFS patients and same household healthy controls (SHHC).

Datasets from whole metagenomic sequencing (WMS) and sequencing of virus-like particles (VLP)-enriched metagenomes from the same fecal sample yielded diverse, high-quality vOTUs with high read coverage and high genome completeness. The core intestinal virome was largely composed of tailed phages in the class Caudoviricetes with no significant differences in alpha diversity between ME/CFS and SHHC groups. However, the WMS dataset had a higher Shannon measure than the VLP dataset (p < 0.0001), with VLP- and WMS-derived sequences indicating differential abundances within several viral families and different viral compositions in beta diversity.

This confirms that combining different isolation methodologies identifies a greater diversity of viruses including extracellular phages and integrated prophages. DNA viromes and bacteriomes from ME/CFS and SHHC groups were comparable with no differences in any alpha or beta diversity measures. One vOTU derived from the VLP-derived dataset was assigned to ssDNA human virus smacovirus 1. Using an in-silico approach to predict cohort-based bacterial hosts, we identified members of the Anaerotruncus genus interacting with unique viruses present in ME/CFS microbiomes; this may contribute to the GI microbial dysbiosis described in ME/CFS patients.

Source: Shen-Yuan Hsieh, George M Savva, Andrea Telatin, Sumeet K Tiwari, Mohammad A Tariq, Fiona Newberry, Katharine A Seton, Catherine Booth, Amolak S Bansal, Tom Wileman, Evelien Andriaenssens, Simon R Carding. Comprehensive profiling of the human intestinal DNA virome and prediction of disease-associated bacterial hosts in severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). medRxiv 2023.06.29.23291738; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.29.23291738 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.29.23291738v1

Increased circulating fibronectin, depletion of natural IgM and heightened EBV, HSV-1 reactivation in ME/CFS and long COVID

Abstract:

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, debilitating, long-term illness without a diagnostic biomarker. ME/CFS patients share overlapping symptoms with long COVID patients, an observation which has strengthened the infectious origin hypothesis of ME/CFS. However, the exact sequence of events leading to disease development is largely unknown for both clinical conditions.

Here we show antibody response to herpesvirus dUTPases, particularly to that of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and HSV-1, increased circulating fibronectin (FN1) levels in serum and depletion of natural IgM against fibronectin ((n)IgM-FN1) are common factors for both severe ME/CFS and long COVID. We provide evidence for herpesvirus dUTPases-mediated alterations in host cell cytoskeleton, mitochondrial dysfunction and OXPHOS.

Our data show altered active immune complexes, immunoglobulin-mediated mitochondrial fragmentation as well as adaptive IgM production in ME/CFS patients. Our findings provide mechanistic insight into both ME/CFS and long COVID development. Finding of increased circulating FN1 and depletion of (n)IgM-FN1 as a biomarker for the severity of both ME/CFS and long COVID has an immediate implication in diagnostics and development of treatment modalities.

Source: Zheng Liu, Claudia Hollmann, Sharada Kalanidhi, Arnhild Grothey, Samuel Keating, Irene Mena-Palomo, Stephanie Lamer, Andreas Schlosser, Agnes Kaiping, Carsten Scheller, Franziska Sotzny, Anna Horn, Carolin Nuernberger, Vladimir Cejka, Boshra Afshar, Thomas Bahmer, Stefan Schreiber, Joerg Janne Vehreschild, Olga Milljukov, Christian Schaefer, Luzie Kretzler, Thomas Keil, Jens-Peter Reese, Felizitas A Eichner, Lena Schmidbauer, Peter U Heuschmann, Stefan Stoerk, Caroline Morbach, Gabriela Riemekasten, Niklas Beyersdorf, Carmen Scheibenbogen, Robert K Naviaux, Marshall Williams, Maria E Ariza, Bhupesh Kumar Prusty. Increased circulating fibronectin, depletion of natural IgM and heightened EBV, HSV-1 reactivation in ME/CFS and long COVID. medRxiv 2023.06.23.23291827; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.23.23291827 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.23.23291827v1 (Full text available as PDF file)

Circulating miRNAs Expression in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract:

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex multifactorial disease that causes increasing morbidity worldwide, and many individuals with ME/CFS symptoms remain undiagnosed due to the lack of diagnostic biomarkers. Its etiology is still unknown, but increasing evidence supports a role of herpesviruses (including HHV-6A and HHV-6B) as potential triggers.
Interestingly, the infection by these viruses has been reported to impact the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs), short non-coding RNA sequences which have been suggested to be epigenetic factors modulating ME/CFS pathogenic mechanisms. Notably, the presence of circulating miRNAs in plasma has raised the possibility to use them as valuable biomarkers for distinguishing ME/CFS patients from healthy controls.
Thus, this study aimed at determining the role of eight miRNAs, which were selected for their previous association with ME/CFS, as potential circulating biomarkers of the disease. Their presence was quantitatively evaluated in plasma from 40 ME/CFS patients and 20 healthy controls by specific Taqman assays, and the results showed that six out of the eight of the selected miRNAs were differently expressed in patients compared to controls; more specifically, five miRNAs were significantly upregulated (miR-127-3p, miR-142-5p, miR-143-3p, miR-150-5p, and miR-448), and one was downmodulated (miR-140-5p). MiRNA levels directly correlated with disease severity, whereas no significant correlations were observed with the plasma levels of seven pro-inflammatory cytokines or with the presence/load of HHV-6A/6B genome, as judged by specific PCR amplification.
The results may open the way for further validation of miRNAs as new potential biomarkers in ME/CFS and increase the knowledge of the complex pathways involved in the ME/CFS development.
Source: Soffritti I, Gravelsina S, D’Accolti M, Bini F, Mazziga E, Vilmane A, Rasa-Dzelzkaleja S, Nora-Krukle Z, Krumina A, Murovska M, et al. Circulating miRNAs Expression in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023; 24(13):10582. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310582 https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/13/10582 (Full text)

A Unique Circular RNA Expression Pattern in the Peripheral Blood of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients

Abstract:

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating disease with obscure aetiology. The underdiagnosis rate of ME/CFS is high due to the lack of diagnostic criteria based on objective markers. In recent years, circRNAs have emerged as potential genetic biomarkers for neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, making them likely to have the same prospect of being biomarkers in ME/CFS. However, despite the extensive amount of research that has been performed on the transcriptomes of ME/CFS patients, all of them are solely focused on linear RNAs, and the profiling of circRNAs in ME/CFS has been completely omitted. In this study, we investigated the expression profiles of circRNAs, comparing ME/CFS patients and controls before and after two sessions of cardiopulmonary exercise longitudinally.

In patients with ME/CFS, the number of detected circRNAs was higher compared to healthy controls, indicating potential differences in circRNA expression associated with the disease. Additionally, healthy controls showed an increase in the number of circRNAs following exercise testing, while no similar pattern was evident in ME/CFS patients, further highlighting physiological differences between the two groups. A lack of correlation was observed between differentially expressed circRNAs and their corresponding coding genes in terms of expression and function, suggesting the potential of circRNAs as independent biomarkers in ME/CFS.

Specifically, 14 circRNAs were highly expressed in ME/CFS patients but absent in controls throughout the exercise study, indicating a unique molecular signature specific to ME/CFS patients and providing potential diagnostic biomarkers for the disease. Significant enrichment of protein and gene regulative pathways were detected in relation to five of these 14 circRNAs based on their predicted miRNA target genes. Overall, this is the first study to describe the circRNA expression profile in peripheral blood of ME/CFS patients, providing valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease.

Source: Yuning Cheng, Si-Mei Xu, Konii Takenaka, Grace Lindner, Ashton Curry-Hyde, Michael Janitz. A Unique Circular RNA Expression Pattern in the Peripheral Blood of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients. Gene. Available online 15 June 2023, 147568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2023.147568 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378111923004092

Increasing serum soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) may be a biomarker of ME/CFS and chronic Long COVID progression

Abstract:

To date, no single blood lab test exists to diagnose or track ME/CFS or chronic Long COVID. Based on existing literature, this article brings together evidence that a molecule secreted by the immune system called sCD40L tends to become increasingly elevated in ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Multiple Sclerosis.

These studies, along with what’s known about the role of sCD40L in health and other diseases, suggest sCD40L may be useful to track over time in ME/CFS and Long COVID patients.

Source: Vijay Iyer. Increasing serum soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) may be a biomarker of ME/CFS and chronic Long COVID progression. Patient-Generated Hypotheses Journal | Issue 1, May 2023. https://patientresearchcovid19.com/storage/2023/05/Patient-Generated-Hypotheses-Issue-1-May-2023.pdf#page=42 (Full text)

Biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a systematic review

Abstract:

Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a multifaceted condition that affects most body systems. There is currently no known diagnostic biomarker; instead, diagnosis is dependent on application of symptom-based case criteria following exclusion of any other potential medical conditions. While there are some studies that report potential biomarkers for ME/CFS, their efficacy has not been validated. The aim of this systematic review is to collate and appraise literature pertaining to a potential biomarker(s) which may effectively differentiate ME/CFS patients from healthy controls.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Cochrane review guidelines. PubMed, Embase and Scopus were systematically searched for articles containing “biomarker” and “ME/CFS” keywords in the abstract or title and if they included the following criteria: (1) were observational studies published between December 1994 and April 2022; (2) involved adult human participants; (3) full text is available in English (4) original research; (5) diagnosis of ME/CFS patients made according to the Fukuda criteria (1994), Canadian Consensus Criteria (2003), International Consensus Criteria (2011) or Institute of Medicine Criteria (2015); (6) study investigated potential biomarkers of ME/CFS compared to healthy controls. Quality and Bias were assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Control Studies.

Results: A total of 101 publications were included in this systematic review. Potential biomarkers ranged from genetic/epigenetic (19.8%), immunological (29.7%), metabolomics/mitochondrial/microbiome (14.85%), endovascular/circulatory (17.82%), neurological (7.92%), ion channel (8.91%) and physical dysfunction biomarkers (8.91%). Most of the potential biomarkers reported were blood-based (79.2%). Use of lymphocytes as a model to investigate ME/CFS pathology was prominent among immune-based biomarkers. Most biomarkers had secondary (43.56%) or tertiary (54.47%) selectivity, which is the ability for the biomarker to identify a disease-causing agent, and a moderate (59.40%) to complex (39.60%) ease-of-detection, including the requirement of specialised equipment.

Conclusions: All potential ME/CFS biomarkers differed in efficiency, quality, and translatability as a diagnostic marker. Reproducibility of findings between the included publications were limited, however, several studies validated the involvement of immune dysfunction in the pathology of ME/CFS and the use of lymphocytes as a model to investigate the pathomechanism of illness. The heterogeneity shown across many of the included studies highlights the need for multidisciplinary research and uniform protocols in ME/CFS biomarker research.

Source: Maksoud R, Magawa C, Eaton-Fitch N, Thapaliya K, Marshall-Gradisnik S. Biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a systematic review. BMC Med. 2023 May 24;21(1):189. doi: 10.1186/s12916-023-02893-9. PMID: 37226227; PMCID: PMC10206551. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10206551/ (Full text)

Proteomics and cytokine analyses distinguish myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome cases from controls

Abstract:

Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, heterogenous disease characterized by unexplained persistent fatigue and other features including cognitive impairment, myalgias, post-exertional malaise, and immune system dysfunction. Cytokines are present in plasma and encapsulated in extracellular vesicles (EVs), but there have been only a few reports of EV characteristics and cargo in ME/CFS. Several small studies have previously described plasma proteins or protein pathways that are associated with ME/CFS.

Methods: We prepared extracellular vesicles (EVs) from frozen plasma samples from a cohort of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) cases and controls with prior published plasma cytokine and plasma proteomics data. The cytokine content of the plasma-derived extracellular vesicles was determined by a multiplex assay and differences between patients and controls were assessed. We then performed multi-omic statistical analyses that considered not only this new data, but extensive clinical data describing the health of the subjects.

Results: ME/CFS cases exhibited greater size and concentration of EVs in plasma. Assays of cytokine content in EVs revealed IL2 was significantly higher in cases. We observed numerous correlations among EV cytokines, among plasma cytokines, and among plasma proteins from mass spectrometry proteomics. Significant correlations between clinical data and protein levels suggest roles of particular proteins and pathways in the disease. For example, higher levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines Granulocyte-Monocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (CSF2) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNFα) were correlated with greater physical and fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS cases. Higher serine protease SERPINA5, which is involved in hemostasis, was correlated with higher SF-36 general health scores in ME/CFS. Machine learning classifiers were able to identify a list of 20 proteins that could discriminate between cases and controls, with XGBoost providing the best classification with 86.1% accuracy and a cross-validated AUROC value of 0.947. Random Forest distinguished cases from controls with 79.1% accuracy and an AUROC value of 0.891 using only 7 proteins.

Conclusions: These findings add to the substantial number of objective differences in biomolecules that have been identified in individuals with ME/CFS. The observed correlations of proteins important in immune responses and hemostasis with clinical data further implicates a disturbance of these functions in ME/CFS.

Source: Giloteaux L, Li J, Hornig M, Lipkin WI, Ruppert D, Hanson MR. Proteomics and cytokine analyses distinguish myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome cases from controls. J Transl Med. 2023 May 13;21(1):322. doi: 10.1186/s12967-023-04179-3. PMID: 37179299. https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-023-04179-3 (Full text)