The 3rd Virtual Scientific Conference for the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgia Encephalomyelitis was held on the 27th-30th July 2022. The conference promoted unpublished data and included both clinicians and biomedical researchers.
This year the conference committee utilised the virtual platform “Gather”, which allowed more interaction between attendees and for researchers to engage with one another, allowing questions to be asked. Essentially this gave the appearance of an online virtual reality conference (see image), from entering the conference room in the virtual setup, the talks were then hosted through zoom.
The talks were grouped into different sections, including: immunology, metabolism, infectious diseases, treatment as well as several sessions on Covid.
A few of the talks this year, were familiar to us from our weekly research roundup, so we have not covered them in this conference report. These were:
- Pre-Illness metabolomics data among college students following mononucleosis and ME/CFS reveals differences in multiple metabolites and metabolic pathways by Leonard A. Jason, DePaul University, USA.
- How to ensure the voice of the severely affected ME/CFS patient is heard in research by Helen Baxter, 25% ME Group, United Kingdom.
- Oxaloacetate improves physical and mental fatigue in ME/CFS and long-COVID by David Kaufman, Centre for Complex Diseases, USA. (Dr Charles Shephard has also provided a comment on this talk, available here.)
Several of the talks have also been documented by Miriam E Tucker from Medscape News and are also available to read on our website, these are:
- Treatments Explored to Ease Post-Viral Symptoms of ME/CFS and Long Covid- available here
- Increasing Data Link ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Dysautonomia- available here
- ME/CFS and Long COVID “Frighteningly Similar, if Not Identical”- available here
- Clinicians Can Help People With Severe ME/CFS, Even Unseen- available here
Due to the format of the conference and the focus on unpublished data, no direct recordings or pictures are available freely as this may jeopardise publication. The full conference programme can be found on the IACFS/ME website here, where recorded presentations may be purchased. Other summaries produced by attendees of the IACFS/ME may also be read on the IASCFS/ME website.
Audio commentary by Dr Katrina Pears
8. Plasma proteomics reveals a distinct response to maximal exercise and recovery pattern between female and male ME/CFS subjects
Arnaud Germain, PhD
Cornell University, USA
Dr Arnaud Germain gave an interesting talk on plasma proteomics in the blood of ME/CFS participants and healthy controls following cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Proteomics is the large scale study of proteomes, which is a set of proteins produced by all living organisms.
In this study blood samples were taken before and after two exercise events (separated by 24 hours), giving four time points (pre-D1, post-D1, pre-D2 and post D2). The exercise sessions were 15-30 minutes long.
The study had a total of 130 participants of which 52 were controls and 78 ME/CFS participants. There was also a mix of male and female participants, the females can be broken down into 35 controls and 59 ME/CFS participants and for the males 17 controls and 19 ME/CFS participants. Using proteomics, 6361 unique proteins were identified in the blood, which included interleukins and tissue leakage proteins.
Dr Germian focused on some of specific proteins, such as:
- Myoglobin- which facilitates movement of oxygen within muscles – was shown to be significantly lower in the ME/CFS female population over all four time points.
- CD8A- which is a T-cell surface glycoprotein- was shown to be significantly lower in the ME/CFS male population in the second day of exercise testing (in both time points pre-D2 and post D2).
- For both males and females, big changes were seen in the proteins following a 24-hour recovery period.
When looking at the number of proteins which significantly differed between ME/CFS patients and controls, for females the number of proteins doubled following exercise on day 1 (post-D1), but for males following the recovery period there was over a six-fold increase (pre-D2). Therefore, for males there was shown to be the largest and greatest difference following recovery.
The team also looked at the results in more depth, in which they analysed the change in proteins in each time point for each individual. This again reinforced the finding that the proteomics in males drastically differ following recovery.
The research team also looked at pathway analysis (i.e. what the proteins present in the blood samples are used for):
- Total population: oxidative stress, axon guidance, immune system, and hemostasis,
- ME/CFS Females: immune system, axon guidance and cytokines,
- ME/CFS Males: neurotransmitters and necrosis.
- The pathway analysis further reinforced the finding that males and females have different proteins present in the blood following exercise testing.
In conclusion, this study very clearly showed that the proteomic response to exercise is different between controls and those with ME/CFS but also that male and females differ.
Previous conference talks from the IACFS/ME Conference 2022:
- Treatments Explored to Ease Post-Viral Symptoms of ME/CFS and Long Covid- available here
- Increasing Data Link ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Dysautonomia- available here
- ME/CFS and Long COVID “Frighteningly Similar, if Not Identical”- available here
- Clinicians Can Help People With Severe ME/CFS, Even Unseen- available here
- Keynote: Pathophysiology of exercise intolerance in ME/CFS & long COVID- available here
- Feasibility of investigating oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate variability, blood pressure and lactic acid levels of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis during normal daily activities- available here
- BREATHE: A mixed-methods evaluation of a virtual self-management program for people living with long COVID- available here