Autoimmunity as a cause of ME/CFS symptoms (AutonoME)
ME/CFS is a debilitating disease with an unknown cause. It is possible that autoimmunity plays a role in ME/CFS; this means that people produce antibodies directed against their own body, which can thus cause a wide variety of symptoms. To find out whether autoimmunity causes ME/CFS, antibodies from ME/CFS patients are being studied. We also aim to take a step towards drug testing and thus finding new treatment methods.
Goal
The aim of this study is to find the biomedical cause of ME/CFS and identify biomarkers (autoantibodies in the blood), which would enable an objective diagnosis of this disease. The plan is also to work towards testing candidate drugs in the future, for example drugs currently used for autoimmune diseases. The researchers do this by creating an ME/CFS animal model that is unique in the world (see approach/method of working).
Approach
One possible cause of ME/CFS is autoimmunity. With the recent emergence of long COVID, a disease very similar to ME/CFS in terms of symptoms, it has become possible to test this autoimmunity hypothesis. Like long COVID patients, ME/CFS patients suffer from fatigue, post-exertional malaise (PEM), difficulty concentrating and headaches, among other symptoms. The research team transferred antibodies from long COVID patients to mice, which led to these mice developing long COVID symptoms. In this project, the aim is to use the same approach with antibodies from ME/CFS patients. For this purpose, blood from 100 patients who are also participating in 2 related research projects will be used.
Part of the NMCB consortium
This research project is associated with the Netherlands ME/CFS Cohort and Biobank (NMCB) consortium. More information on the consortium and the other NMCB research projects can be found on the NMCB consortium’s page.
Collaboration partners
This research is conducted by the Netherlands ME/CFS Cohort and Biobank (NMCB) consortium, with Jos Bosch from the University of Amsterdam as project leader. Other universities involved are UMC Utrecht, Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam, LUMC, Charité in Germany and Uppsala University in Sweden. The research team consists of several national and international experts from different fields of science, including (neuro)immunology, antibody biology and chemistry. Physicians, patients, practitioners and the organisations Sanquin, Vermoeidheidskliniek, Netherlands Proteomics Centre and Netherlands Bio-imaging are also part of the consortium.
(Expected) Results
If it indeed becomes clear that autoimmunity is a cause of ME/CFS, patients will finally know a reason for their symptoms. The ability to diagnose this disease objectively will be a huge step for them. It will lead to societal recognition and understanding. By creating a ME/CFS animal model, it is expected that candidate drugs can be tested in the future, for example drugs that are currently used to treat autoimmune diseases. Finding drugs that relieve symptoms means a great improvement for patients and society as patients can participate in daily life again.
Other
A data management plan will be created for this study and work with a data steward. The results of the study will be made available on a public server (e.g. bioRxiv or medRxiv) and then published in traditional peer-reviewed (Open Access) journals. The results will also be presented at conferences and included in education, as knowledge of this disease is now lacking in most curricula. The outcomes will also be shared with doctors and insurance companies. The outcomes are also going to be shared with the media and on the researchers' social media channels. Patients and patient representatives are closely involved in this study. They and the researchers meet every six months to discuss the progress of the study.