Gene Pattern Revealed in Pilot Study

Dr. Jonathan Kerr and colleagues at St. George’s University of London reported in the July 27, 2005 issue of the Journal of Clinical Pathology that a preliminary study of 25 CFS patients and 25 matched healthy controls revealed abnormalities in 35 of 9,522 genes analyzed using microarray technology. Polymerase chain reaction studies showed the same results for 16 of these genes.

The pattern of dysregulated genes reflects T cell activation and disruption of neuronal and mitochondrial function, findings that are consistent with other studies in the CFS literature. The authors suggest that their results point to a role for organophosphate exposure or viral infection in CFS. Of the 25 patients tested, 15 reported onset with a flu-like illness. All patients met the CDC case definition and the researchers took care to enroll patients representing a broad spectrum of illness severity, including subjects who were mostly bedbound as well as others with milder symptoms. Sixteen were female and the subjects’ mean age was 40.6. None had received previous treatment for depression. The study did not compare CFS patients to patients with other medical conditions.

The group is currently expanding its search for a gene profile and treatments, studying 1,000 patients and controls and looking at 47,000 genes in collaboration with several other centers throughout the United Kingdom. Their work attracted coverage in the July 21 issue of New Scientist, a leading weekly science and technology magazine. The story was picked up by BBC News and other news services and it was reported in the Aug. 2, 2005 edition of the New York Times. The study was funded by the CFS Research Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to supporting high quality research.

Microarray technology is being used by Dr. Suzanne Vernon and colleagues at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to detect gene expression abnormalities and identify a biomarker for CFS. Dr. Vernon wrote about her group’s work in the fall 2004 issue of the CFIDS Chronicle (see pages 18-21). Her group has reported irregularities in the expression of neuronal genes in CFS. Dr. R. Powell of the UK’s Southampton University Hospital reported a pilot study using differential display that found upregulation of mitochondrial genes in CFS. With further study, these methods may well yield a diagnostic test for CFS, as well as improved understanding of the underlying biologic processes and more effective treatments.