Why do some ME/CFS patients benefit from treatment with sodium dichloroacetate, but others do not?, by Frank Comhaire in Med Hypotheses 2018 Nov;120:65-67 [Epub 2018 Aug 25]
Research abstract:
Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is an enigmatic disease the pathogenesis of which remains elusive.
Pragmatic proof-of-principle of the hypothetical mechanisms causing the clinical symptoms has been delivered, but it is hard to explain why some patients do respond favourably to treatment with sodium dichloroacetate (DCA), which enhances the activity of the mitochondrial enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase, but other patients experience no benefit from this substance.
In a prospective trial including 35 ME/CFS patients, logistic regression analysis with stepwise elimination has identified 6 pre-treatment characteristics allowing for the differentiation between responders (n = 13) and non-reponders (n = 22) with high accuracy (P < 0.0001; area under the ROC-curve = 0.92).
A formula was derived generating the probability of belonging to the group of responders. This finding may assist in selecting ME/CFS patients suitable for treatment with DCA, but requires further studies as to the predictive capacity of the derived formula.
Funded by 
The study aimed to determine the effects of warm water immersion on BP, HR and HRV in adults with CFS compared to matched-pair healthy adults.
The effect of a concurrent arithmetic cognitive task on postural control during quiet standing was investigated in 75 women (aged 19–49 years) and compared between FM, CFS, and matched controls (/group). Quiet standing on a force plate was performed for 60 s/condition, with and without a concurrent cognitive task. The center of pressure data was decomposed into a slow component and a fast component representing postural sway and adjusting ankle torque.
To define the prevalence of severe chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and its clinical characteristics in a geographically defined area of Northern England. To understand the feasibility of a community-based research study in the severely affected CFS/ME group.
emaining unexplained after thorough screening were investigated using a 
Thus, there is an urgency to carefully define standard protocols that elevate physiotherapy treatments to rigorous scientific demands. One way in which this can be achieved is by studying gene expression and physiological changes that associate to particular, parameter-controlled, treatments in animal models, and translating this knowledge to properly designed, objective, quantitatively-monitored clinical trials (CTs).
Peter Rowe MD is a Professor of Paediatrics and is Director of the Children’s Center Chronic Fatigue Clinic at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. His areas of clinical expertise include chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and orthostatic intolerance. Prof Peter Rowe played a major role in the production of the recent Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diagnosis and Management in Young People: A Primer. He was also a member of the team which produced the very influential report: 
Dr Nigel Speight is a consultant Paediatrician with a long standing special interest in ME, based in Durham, UK. He is a medical advisor for several charities including the ME Association, The Young ME Sufferers Trust and the 25% ME Group. Dr Speight was among the expert ME/CFS paediatricians contributing to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diagnosis and Management in Young People: A Primer. He previously contributed to the “
We explored alterations of the oral microbiome in Chinese Han CFS patients using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and alterations in the functional potential of the oral microbiome using PICRUSt. We found that Shannon and Simpson diversity indices were not different in CFS patients compared to healthy controls, but the overall oral microbiome composition was different (MANOVA, p < 0.01).
This study adapted a 
