Genetic Link Identified for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome could Advance Treatment
15 Sep 2022
U.K.-based PrecisionLife reported Wednesday it has found a genetic link to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
Approximately 17 million people worldwide have chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with symptoms including malaise, fatigue, chronic pain and cognitive impairment. There are no medicines to directly treat, let alone cure, CFS and patients are routinely prescribed pain killers, anti-depressants and other drugs to alleviate symptoms.
PrecisionLife stated the research could lead to better diagnoses and treatments for an ailment that is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat.
The study could also lead to new medicines and treatments for a wide range of illnesses related to chronic fatigue, such as multiple sclerosis and auto-immune diseases.
Researchers also discovered 199 single nucleotide polymorphisms mapped to 14 genes "that were significantly associated with 91% of the cases in the ME/CFS population," PrecisionLife noted in its announcement.
The researchers used data from the U.K. Biobank and employed combinatorial analytics, which examines the relationship and interactions among multiple genes. Most gene-based diseases are complex and involve much more than a single gene.
PrecisionLife analyzes "huge multi-dimensional datasets and to accurately model the behavior of complex systems."
The data have been submitted for publication and are available on the pre-publication site Medrxiv. It is being presented Thursday at the M.E. Genetics Research Summit organized by Action for M.E. and the MRC Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh.
Sonya Chowdhury, chief executive of patients' advocacy group Action for M.E., said the research could lead to the first real treatments for chronic fatigue.
"These are exciting findings from PrecisionLife that may be used to develop diagnostic biomarkers and discover novel drug targets and precision repositioning opportunities in the future," Chowdhury said in a statement. "If successful, these could be used to create the first therapeutic options for this debilitating disease."
Many genes are associated with vulnerabilities to stress and infection, mitochondrial dysfunction, sleep disturbance and autoimmune development.
The study also identified similarities with genes PrecisionLife found to be associated with multiple sclerosis and Long COVID. Some researchers also believe some COVID patients may develop CFS.
PrecisionLife researchers are investigating the connection between COVID-19 and chronic fatigue and have identifed three genes with a potential link.
The company noted it will dive into more data using the same combinatorial analysis of the DecodeME study, the largest genetic ME/CFS study, with over 20,000 participants.
"These groundbreaking results provide new hope of developing effective precision medicines for people living with ME/CFS around the world," Precision Medicine CEO Steve Gardner said in the announcement.
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