Cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome May Lie in Altered Gut Bacteria - Medical News

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Saturday, March 9, 2019

Cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome May Lie in Altered Gut Bacteria

Cause of chronic fatigue syndrome

Researchers from Cornell University in the U.S. report they have found the cause for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). They say, for the first time they’ve identified biological markers of the disorder in gut bacteria and inflammatory microorganisms in the blood.

Scientists have been mystified by the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, which is characterized by extreme fatigue that isn’t improved by rest and cannot be explained by any underlying medical condition. Some researchers have been baffled by the disorder so much that they have even questioned whether the condition exists.

Now, the new research seems to shed some light on the biological cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, which is also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

According to The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 4 out of 1,000 people in the UK suffer from CFS. Female to male ratio is 2:1. Children can also be affected by the condition and research shows higher incidence among children in socially deprived families.

There are currently no FDA (Food and Drug Administration, U.S.) approved treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome.

Aside from persistent fatigue, symptoms for ME/CFS include headache, unrefreshing sleep, sore throat, joint pain, tender lymph nodes in the armpits or neck, problems with memory and concentration, and extreme exhaustion and sickness after exercise or mental exertion.  

Diagnosis of the condition may be made if 4 or more of these symptoms last more than 6 months. There is no known cause that triggersthe condition, and diagnosis requires lengthy tests done by an expert.

Other symptoms may include dizziness, visual problems, or fainting, irritable bowel, and brain fog.

CFS can be tricky to diagnose since the symptoms are very similar to those of other illnesses.

One other factor that makes the condition difficult to diagnose is that its underlying cause is not known.

Researchers after years of study have beenunable to pinpoint the exact cause of CFS, which led to some scientists suggesting that the condition is psychosomatic, meaning it is caused by stress, anxiety, or other psychological factors.

Senior author Maureen Hanson, of the Departments of Molecular Biology and Genetics and Microbiology at Cornell, and colleagues say their study offers proof that CFS is not psychosomatic, after finding that people with the condition have abnormalities in the gut microbiome – the microbial denizens in the intestine. [Read more FamilyHistory of Alzheimer’s May Explain Link of Metabolic Gene that Raises Risk forDisease]

In the study, Cornell University researchers partnered with Dr. Susan Levine, an ME/CFS specialist in New York City, who enlisted 48 participants diagnosed with ME/CFS and 39 healthy control individuals.

The researchers analyzed the microbialDNA from the stool and blood samples of all the participants.

Stool samples from CFS patients showed reduced diversity in gut bacteria, less anti-inflammatory bacteria, and more pro-inflammatory bacteria compared with the stools samples from the healthy individuals.

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The team notes that such abnormal gut bacteria are often found in the stool samples of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn'sdisease and ulcerative colitis.

The researchers also found markers of inflammation in the blood samples of patients with CF. They say this is likely due to a leaky gut from intestinal problems that allow bacteria to enter the blood.

Researchers explain that when such bacteria enter the blood, this can set off an immune response, which could aggravate CFS symptoms.

The team says they could correctly diagnose CFS in 83% of patients using the newly obtained information from stool and blood samples. The findings could pave the way for new methods to diagnose and treat the condition, say researchers.

"In the future, we could see this technique as a complement to other noninvasive diagnoses, but if we have a better idea of what is going on with these gut microbes and patients, maybe clinicians could considerchanging diets, using prebiotics such as dietary fibers or probiotics to help treat the disease," explains first author Ludovic Giloteaux, of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell.

The researchers say they have no evidence to determine whether altered gut bacteria is a cause of chronic fatigue syndrome or a result of the condition and this is something they intend to examine in future studies, Giloteaux added.

Still, they believe the results could help them gain a better understanding of the underlying causes of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Prof. Hanson concludes:

"Our work demonstrates that the gut bacterial microbiome in CFS patients isn't normal, perhaps leading to gastrointestinal and inflammatory symptoms in victims of the disease.

Furthermore, our detection of a biological abnormality provides further evidence against the ridiculous concept that the disease is psychological in origin."

The study was published in the journal Microbiome.

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