2019 – Page 5 – American ME and CFS Society

Intra brainstem connectivity is impaired in chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract:

In myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), abnormal MRI correlations with symptom severity and autonomic measures have suggested impaired nerve signal conduction within the brainstem. Here we analyse fMRI correlations to directly test connectivity within and from the brainstem. Resting and task functional MRI (fMRI) were acquired for 45 ME/CFS (Fukuda criteria) and 27 healthy controls (HC).

We selected limited brainstem reticular activation system (RAS) regions-of-interest (ROIs) based on previous structural MRI findings in a different ME/CFS cohort (bilateral rostral medulla and midbrain cuneiform nucleus), the dorsal Raphe nucleus, and two subcortical ROIs (hippocampus subiculum and thalamus intralaminar nucleus) reported to have rich brainstem connections.

When HC and ME/CFS were analysed separately, significant correlations were detected for both groups during both rest and task, with stronger correlations during task than rest. In ME/CFS, connections were absent between medulla and midbrain nuclei, although hippocampal connections with these nuclei were enhanced.

When corresponding correlations from HC and ME/CFS were compared, ME/CFS connectivity deficits were detected within the brainstem between the medulla and cuneiform nucleus and between the brainstem and hippocampus and intralaminar thalamus, but only during task.

In CFS/ME, weaker connectivity between some RAS nuclei was associated with increased symptom severity. RAS neuron oscillatory signals facilitate coherence in thalamo-cortical oscillations. Brainstem RAS connectivity deficits can explain autonomic changes and diminish cortical oscillatory coherence which can impair attention, memory, cognitive function, sleep quality and muscle tone, all symptoms of ME/CFS.

Source: Barnden LR, Shan ZY, Staines DR, Marshall-Gradisnik S, Finegan K, Ireland T, Bhuta S. Intra brainstem connectivity is impaired in chronic fatigue syndrome. Neuroimage Clin. 2019 Oct 19;24:102045. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102045. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31671321

News and views in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): The role of co-morbidity and novel treatments

Abstract:

Though affecting many thousands of patients, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) should be considered an orphan disease, since the cause remains elusive and no treatment is available that can provide complete cure. There is reasonable insight into the pathogenesis of signs and symptoms, and treatments specifically directed to immunological, inflammatory and metabolic processes offer relief to an increasing number of patients. Particular attention is given to the importance of co-morbidity requiring appropriate therapy.

Promising results are obtained by treatment with Metformin, or possibly Momordica charantia extract, which will correct insulin resistance, with Meldonium improving the transportation of glucose into the mitochondria, with sodium dichloroacetate activating pyruvate dehydrogenase, and with nutraceutical support reducing oxidative and inflammatory impairment.

Source: Comhaire F, Deslypere JP. News and views in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): The role of co-morbidity and novel treatments. Med Hypotheses. 2019 Oct 22;134:109444. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109444. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31669858

Evidence of altered cardiac autonomic regulation in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex condition with no reliable diagnostic biomarkers. Studies have shown evidence of autonomic dysfunction in patients with ME/CFS, but results have been equivocal. Heart rate (HR) parameters can reflect changes in autonomic function in healthy individuals; however, this has not been thoroughly evaluated in ME/CFS.

METHODS: A systematic database search for case-control literature was performed. Meta-analysis was performed to determine differences in HR parameters between ME/CFS patients and controls.

RESULTS: Sixty-four articles were included in the systematic review. HR parameters assessed in ME/CFS patients and controls were grouped into ten categories: resting HR (RHR), maximal HR (HRmax), HR during submaximal exercise, HR response to head-up tilt testing (HRtilt), resting HR variability (HRVrest), HR variability during head-up tilt testing (HRVtilt), orthostatic HR response (HROR), HR during mental task(s) (HRmentaltask), daily average HR (HRdailyaverage), and HR recovery (HRR) Meta-analysis revealed RHR (MD ± 95% CI = 4.14 ± 1.38, P < .001), HRtilt (SMD ± 95% CI = 0.92 ± 0.24, P < .001), HROR (0.50 ± 0.27, P < .001), and the ratio of low frequency power to high frequency power of HRVrest (0.39 ± 0.22, P < .001) were higher in ME/CFS patients compared to controls, while HRmax (MD ± 95% CI = -13.81 ± 4.15, P < .001), HR at anaerobic threshold (SMD ± 95% CI = -0.44 ± 0.30, P = 0.005) and the high frequency portion of HRVrest (-0.34 ± 0.22, P = .002) were lower in ME/CFS patients.

CONCLUSIONS: The differences in HR parameters identified by the meta-analysis indicate that ME/CFS patients have altered autonomic cardiac regulation when compared to healthy controls. These alterations in HR parameters may be symptomatic of the condition.

Source: Nelson MJ, Bahl JS, Buckley JD, Thomson RL, Davison K. Evidence of altered cardiac autonomic regulation in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Oct;98(43):e17600. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000017600. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31651868 (Full article)

The Effect of Comorbid Medical and Psychiatric Diagnoses on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To determine if presence of co-existing medically unexplained syndromes or psychiatric diagnoses affect symptom frequency, severity or activity impairment in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

PATIENTS: Sequential Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients presenting in one clinical practice.

DESIGN: Participants underwent a psychiatric diagnostic interview and were evaluated for fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and/or multiple chemical sensitivity.

RESULTS: Current and lifetime psychiatric diagnosis was common (68%) increasing mental fatigue/health but not other illness variables and not with diagnosis of other medically unexplained syndromes. 81% of patients had at least one of these conditions with about a third having all three co-existing syndromes. Psychiatric diagnosis was not associated with their diagnosis. Increasing the number of these unexplained conditions was associated with increasing impairment in physical function, pain and rates of being unable to work.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome should be evaluated for current psychiatric conditions because of their impact on patient quality of life, but they do not act as a symptom multiplier for the illness. Other co-existing medically unexplained syndromes are more common than psychiatric co-morbidities in patients presenting for evaluation of medically unexplained fatigue and are also more associated with increased disability and the number and severity of symptoms.

Key Messages: When physicians see patients with medically unexplained fatigue, they often infer that this illness is due to an underlying psychiatric problem. This paper shows that the presence of co-existing psychiatric diagnoses does not impact on any aspect of the phenomenology of medically unexplained fatigue also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Therefore, psychiatric status is not an important causal contributor to CFS. In contrast, the presence of other medically unexplained syndromes [irritable bowel syndrome; fibromyalgia and/or multiple chemical sensitivity] do impact on the illness such that the more of these that co-exist the more health-related burdens the patient has.

Source: Natelson BH, Lin JS, Lange G, Khan S, Stegner A, Unger ER. The Effect of Comorbid Medical and Psychiatric Diagnoses on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Ann Med. 2019 Oct 23:1-18. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2019.1683601. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31642345

Retinal nerve fiber layer thinning in chronic fatigue syndrome as a possible ocular biomarker of underlying glymphatic system dysfunction

In a recent article published in Medical Hypotheses, my colleague and I speculated that glymphatic dysfunction, causing toxic build up within the central nervous system, may be responsible for at least some cases of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) [1]. We further postulated that cerebrospinal fluid diversion such as lumboperitoneal shunting may be beneficial to this subgroup of patients by restoring glymphatic transport and waste removal from the brain. In this context, it would be helpful to have a predictive biomarker that can identify CFS patients who are good candidates for this specific treatment. For reasons discussed below, I believe that retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning may be a sign of underlying glymphatic system dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases that result from protein toxicity.

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Rethinking the Standard of Care for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

For over two decades, the standard of care for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has been cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET). Both interventions had been recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and the UK NICE guidelines.¹ Behavioral intervention as the clinical standard was given a considerable boost by the 5 million–pound PACE trial, a large multi-arm randomized trial of CBT and GET launched in 2007.² This British government–funded trial was intended to definitively answer whether such interventions were beneficial in ME/CFS. In their 2011 and 2013 publications, the PACE trial authors announced with widespread publicity that 22% of their patients had “recovered” and 59–61% had clinically improved across the CBT and GET interventions.^2, 3

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Source: Friedberg, F., Sunnquist, M. & Nacul, L. J GEN INTERN MED (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05375-y https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11606-019-05375-y

Neuroimmunology: What Role for Autoimmunity, Neuroinflammation, and Small Fiber Neuropathy in Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Adverse Events after Human Papillomavirus Vaccination?

Abstract:

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and non-pain symptoms, such as fatigue, dysautonomia, and cognitive and sleep disturbances. Its pathogenesis and treatment continue to be the subject of debate. We highlight the role of three mechanisms-autoimmunity, neuroinflammation, and small fiber neuropathy in the pathogenesis of the disease. These mechanisms are shown to be closely interlinked (also on a molecular level), and the review considers the implementation of this relationship in the search for therapeutic options.

We also pay attention to chronic fatigue syndrome, which overlaps with fibromyalgia, and propose a concept of “autoimmune hypothalamopathy” for its pathogenesis. Finally, we analyze the molecular mechanisms underlying the neuroinflammatory background in the development of adverse events following HPV vaccination and suggesting neuroinflammation, which could exacerbate the development of symptoms following HPV vaccination (though this is hotly debated), as a model for fibromyalgia pathogenesis.

Source: Ryabkova VA, Churilov LP, Shoenfeld Y. Neuroimmunology: What Role for Autoimmunity, Neuroinflammation, and Small Fiber Neuropathy in Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Adverse Events after Human Papillomavirus Vaccination? Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Oct 18;20(20). pii: E5164. doi: 10.3390/ijms20205164. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/20/5164 (Full article)

Brain studies show chronic fatigue syndrome and Gulf War illness are distinct conditions

CHICAGO (October 23, 2019) — Gulf War Illness (GWI) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) share symptoms of disabling fatigue, pain, systemic hyperalgesia (tenderness), negative emotion, sleep and cognitive dysfunction that are made worse after mild exertion (postexertional malaise). Now, neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have evidence, derived from human brain studies, that GWI and CFS are two distinct disorders that affect the brain in opposing ways.

The findings, presented in two related studies at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) in Chicago, offer a new perspective on neurotoxicity and suggest that methods to effectively diagnose and treat these disorders could be developed, says the studies’ senior author, James Baraniuk, MD, a Georgetown professor of medicine.

GWI affects veterans of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War who were exposed to a toxic environment of nerve agents, pesticides and other neurotoxins, while the etiology of CFS is unknown. The overlapping symptoms suggest they may share some common mechanisms of disease.

Baraniuk was first to find unique physical changes in the brains of patients with GWI, and he and his colleagues have also found changes in brain chemistry between GWI and CFS. “This new work further emphasizes that chronic fatigue syndrome and Gulf War Illness are two very real, and very distinct, diseases of the brain,” he says.

The two SFN studies were led by investigators in Baraniuk’s lab. One, being presented by neuroscientist Stuart Washington, PhD, details how specific areas in the brain are affected by the disorders, and the second, led by student Haris Pepermintwala, MS, takes a deep dive into one of those areas, the brain stem, to illustrate the degree to which these conditions have differing effects.

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis affects between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans, according to a 2015 report by the National Academy of Medicine. Gulf War Illness developed in about one-third of the 697,000 veterans deployed to the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. Baraniuk says that during Operation Desert Storm, these veterans were exposed to combinations of nerve agents, pesticides and other toxic chemicals that may have triggered the chronic pain and cognitive and gastrointestinal problems.

Both GWI and CFS share common features: cognitive dysfunction, pain and fatigue primarily following physical exercise. To determine how these conditions affect brain function, investigators studied neuronal activation using functional MRI (fMRI) during a cognitive task a day before and a day after bicycle exercise stress tests in their different groups: 38 CFS patients, 80 GWI patients, and a control group of 23 healthy sedentary volunteers. Brain activation during a working memory task was compared between the pre- and post-exercise fMRI studies, and between CFS and GWI groups.

Before exercise, brain activation was similar between groups. However, after exercise the CFS group showed significantly increased activation of the midbrain, while GWI had the opposite effect, with decreased activation in this vital region of the arousal network. CFS also had increased activation in the insula. In contrast, GWI, but not CFS, had a decrease in activation of the cerebellum after exercise. The findings show that specific brain regions acted in opposing ways, representing a differentiation between GWI and CFS.

While these areas are involved in pain perception, among their many other tasks, “this doesn’t mean more or less activity is directly related to pain,” says Washington. “What it does show is that the two conditions are distinct from each other and involve different cellular/molecular mechanisms.”

The second study, led by Pepermintwala, looked more closely at specific regions within the brain stem and confirmed that CFS had significantly increased activation during the cognitive task after the exercise provocations, while GWI had significantly reduced activation.

These regions are involved in vital functions for instantaneous assessments of threats, predator-prey decisions, arousal, modulation of chronic pain, sleep and other neurobehavioral functions, Pepermintwala says. But after exercise, the CFS group had significantly increased activity in the majority of regions evaluated, while the GWI patients experienced significantly decreased activation.

The results support other research, conducted post-mortem in veterans with PTSD, suggesting that the brain stem in these veterans may have physical abnormalities, such as a loss of neurons, Pepermintwala says. “The midbrain is affected by the exercise and cognitive challenges, but CFS and GWI react in opposite ways, showing that they are related, but distinctly different disorders.”

For the study led by Washington, additional co-authors include Rakib Rahan, Richard Garner, Destie Provenzano, Kristina Zajur, Florencia Martinez Addiego, John VanMeter and Baraniuk.

For the study led by Pepermintwala, additional co-authors include Washington, Addiego, Rayhan and Baraniuk.

The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the studies.

These studies were supported by funding from The Sergeant Sullivan Circle, Barbara Cottone, Dean Clarke Bridge Prize, Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (W81XWH-15-1-0679 and W81-XWH-09-1-0526), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R21NS088138 and RO1NS085131). The project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds (UL1TR000101 previously UL1RR031975) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program.

Clinical efficacy of neurometabolic therapy of dissomical disorders in asthenic syndrome

Abstract:

AIM: To analyze the efficacy of cytoflavin in the complex treatment of sleep disorders in asthenic syndrome.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred patients with sleep disorders and asthenic syndrome of various etiology and severity were studied. The patients were divided into three groups depending on the type of therapy: the first group received intravenous infusions of cytoflavin for 10 days; the second group, in addition to cytoflavin, received per os melatonin (3 mg or 5 mg) at bedtime; the third group in addition to cytoflavin received per os zopiclone (7.5 mg) at bedtime.

RESULTS: On the 14th day of the study, a decrease in severity or complete relief of asthenia manifestations (according to the SHAS scale) and, accordingly, improvement or normalization of sleep in 97% of patients was found. At the same time, during polysomnographic study, the data obtained are characteristic for improving the quality of sleep phases mainly in the first and second groups of patients and, to a lesser extent, in the third group.

CONCLUSION: Cytoflavin effectively suppresses the main manifestations of asthenic syndrome, including sleep disorders.

Source: Esipov AV, Ivolgin AF, Khritinin DF, Katenko SV, Kazakov SP, Karakozov AG, Kalyagin IE, Levchenko OB, Molodova AI. Clinical efficacy of neurometabolic therapy of dissomical disorders in asthenic syndrome. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2019;119(9):46-51. doi: 10.17116/jnevro201911909146. [Article in Russian; Abstract available in Russian from the publisher] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31626218

Editorial: Advances in ME/CFS Research and Clinical Care

Editorial:

Advances in ME/CFS Research and Clinical Care spotlights Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): a maligned, stigmatized, under-researched disease, which lacks a definitive, objective clinical test for its diagnosis, and definitive palliative and curative treatments. A few brave physicians attempt to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted. They rely upon the patients’ symptoms to guide them. Physicians can provide symptomatic relief and improve upon patients’ abnormal physiological and metabolic parameters by intervening to cause the latter to approach normal limits.

Documented to be more severely disabling than HIV-AIDS, ME/CFS receives disturbingly little funding in the United States and around the world. ME/CFS patients constitute an identifiable, underserved population that is in need of the recognition which would raise them from their current, underserved or non-served patient status into the mainstream of healthcare worldwide. ME/CFS is a common disease worldwide, affecting approximately 1 percent of the world’s population.

You can read the rest of this article HERE.

Source: Friedman KJ, Bateman L, Bested A, Nahle Z. Editorial: Advances in ME/CFS Research and Clinical Care. Front Pediatr. 2019 Sep 18;7:370. doi: 10.3389/fped.2019.00370. eCollection 2019. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2019.00370/full (Full article)