ME/CFS Biomarker is possible with Raman spectroscopy
Researchers led by Prof Karl Morten in Oxford are confident they have found a suitable way of distinguishing between healthy people, other diseases and ME/CFS patients with high accuracy (91%), and can further differentiate between mild, moderate, and severe ME/CFS patients (84%).
Raman microscopes can detect altered levels of tryptophan and serotonin, together with decreased tyrosine levels in all disease groups and reduced phenylalanine in the severe ME group. Only a small amount of blood is needed.
“Although the single-cell Raman spectroscopic approach is not yet readily available in certified diagnostic laboratories, which might represent a barrier to adoption, our study investigates its potential as a brand-new diagnostic technique that is rapid and minimally invasive thus allowing for more often longitudinal monitoring of the diseases.”
The team is planning further research to validate these findings and invites people to donate.
Developing a blood cell-based diagnostic test for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome using peripheral blood mononuclear cells, by Jiabao Xu, Tiffany Lodge, Caroline Kingdon, James W L Strong, John Maclennan, Eliana Lacerda, Slawomir Kujawski, Pawel Zalewski, Wei E Huang, Karl J Morten, in Advanced Science, 31 Aug 2023 [doi.org/10.1002/advs.202302146]
Research abstract:
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is characterized by debilitating fatigue that profoundly impacts patients’ lives. Diagnosis of ME/CFS remains challenging, with most patients relying on self-report, questionnaires, and subjective measures to receive a diagnosis, and many never receiving a clear diagnosis at all.
In this study, a single-cell Raman platform and artificial intelligence are utilized to analyze blood cells from 98 human subjects, including 61 ME/CFS patients of varying disease severity and 37 healthy and disease controls.
These results demonstrate that Raman profiles of blood cells can distinguish between healthy individuals, disease controls, and ME/CFS patients with high accuracy (91%), and can further differentiate between mild, moderate, and severe ME/CFS patients (84%).
Additionally, specific Raman peaks that correlate with ME/CFS phenotypes and have the potential to provide insights into biological changes and support the development of new therapeutics are identified. This study presents a promising approach for aiding in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS and can be extended to other unexplained chronic diseases such as long COVID and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, which share many of the same symptoms as ME/CFS.
Read more:
Oxford University: Karl Morton
Oxford University: Understanding the causes of ME/CFS projects
Health rising: A potential blood test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)?
