Circulating extracellular vesicles as potential biomarkers in CFS (2018) Castro-Marrero et al

Kalliope

Kalliope

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
ABSTRACT
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is an acquired, complex and multisystem condition of unknown etiology, no established diagnostic lab tests and no universally FDA-approved drugs for treatment. CFS/ME is characterised by unexplicable disabling fatigue and is often also associated with numerous core symptoms.

A growing body of evidence suggests that extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a role in cell-to-cell communication, and are involved in both physiological and pathological processes. To date, no data on EV biology in CFS/ME are as yet available.

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterise blood-derived EVs in CFS/ME. Blood samples were collected from 10 Spanish CFS/ME patients and 5 matched healthy controls (HCs), and EVs were isolated from the serum using a polymer-based method. Their protein cargo, size distribution and concentration were measured by Western blot and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Furthermore, EVs were detected using a lateral flow immunoassay based on biomarkers CD9 and CD63.

We found that the amount of EV-enriched fraction was significantly higher in CFS/ME subjects than in HCs (p = 0.007) and that EVs were significantly smaller in CFS/ME patients (p = 0.014). Circulating EVs could be an emerging tool for biomedical research in CFS/ME.

These findings provide preliminary evidence that blood-derived EVs may distinguish CFS/ME patients from HCs. This will allow offer new opportunities and also may open a new door to identifying novel potential biomarkers and therapeutic approaches for the condition.
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I have no idea what this means in terms of understanding ME, and it's a tiny study, but the differences found in quantity and size of EV's is surprisingly different. Maybe a biomarker? Early days, of course.
 
Since I'd never heard of EV's, I did a quick google and see that they are being studied as markers in cancer, aging and other things. So perhaps it's more of a general "something wrong in the body" marker than an ME/CFS biomarker, but it still adds to the picture of the physical debility we have and might help measure if some intervention brings improvement or deterioration.
 
From a Cort blog

Hanson will bring something absolutely new to the field with a project on “extracellular vesicles”: free-floating membrane-surrounded blobs containing proteins, lipids, hormones and RNA’s. These “cargo carriers” release their products into cells when they fuse with them, and appear to play a role in many functions including how the immune system (including B-cells) react to pathogens. Hanson believes exercise may be causing these vesicles to release inflammatory factors that contribute to the PEM in ME/CFS. Since extracellular vesicles are new to ME/CFS research, my guess is that she’s gathered some nice pilot data on them.
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https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2017/09/30/three-nih-funded-mecfs-research-centers-controversy/
 
https://www.s4me.info/threads/devel...ronic-fatigue-syndrome-me-cfs.965/#post-16364

A post by @strategist in November 2017 - Watanabe's team is on to EV's too.

Watanabe et al. have received funding to conduct a 120 participants PET brain imaging study.

The primary outcome:
The level of brain positive inflammation dected by positron emission tomography (PET), [F18]DPA-714

Secondary outcomes:
Oxidative stress level, Anti-oxidant activity, Metabolome, Proteome, Cytokines, Extracellular vesicles, Clinical test (CRP, cholesterol, etc.), CD antibody, Autonomic nervous system, Questionnaires for fatigue, depression and various symptoms, Arithmetic task, Sleep-wake cycle, Performance status for fatigue

Details https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000033257​
 
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