{"id":38300,"date":"2023-02-08T09:12:35","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T09:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?p=38300"},"modified":"2023-02-08T09:25:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T09:25:34","slug":"research-endothelial-dysfunction-in-me-cfs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/research-endothelial-dysfunction-in-me-cfs\/","title":{"rendered":"Research: Endothelial dysfunction in ME\/CFS"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Endothelial dysfunction and vascular homestasis in ME\/CFS<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A sub-study of the <a href=\"https:\/\/me-pedia.org\/wiki\/RituxME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RituxME trial<\/a> by Norwegian researchers found a problem in the blood vessels on the heart in a group of people with ME\/CFS. Treatment with <a href=\"https:\/\/me-pedia.org\/wiki\/Rituximab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rituximab<\/a> caused a slight but significant improvement in symptoms within 18 months. They conclude that the vascular or <a href=\"https:\/\/kidshealth.org\/en\/teens\/heart.html#:~:text=The%20circulatory%20system%20is%20made,waste%20products%2C%20like%20carbon%20dioxide.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">circulatory<\/a> system could play a role in ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Endothelial dysfunction is a type of non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) in which there are no heart artery blockages, but the large blood vessels on the heart&#8217;s surface constrict (narrow) instead of dilating (opening). This condition tends to affect more women than men and causes chronic chest pain. (<a href=\"https:\/\/stanfordhealthcare.org\/medical-conditions\/blood-heart-circulation\/endothelial-dysfunction.html#:~:text=Endothelial%20dysfunction%20is%20a%20type,and%20causes%20chronic%20chest%20pain.\">Stanford<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0280942\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Endothelial dysfunction in ME\/CFS patients<\/a>, by Miriam Kristine Sandvik, Kari S\u00f8rland, Elisabeth Leirgul, Ingrid Gurvin Rekeland, Christina S\u00e6rsten Stavland, Olav Mella, \u00d8ystein Fluge <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">in<\/span>\u00a0<em>PLoS One<\/em>, 2023 Feb 2;18(2):e0280942 [doi: 10.1371\/journal.pone.0280942]<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Research abstract<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-38313 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/circulatory-g95edbb101_1280.png?resize=300%2C461&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"461\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/circulatory-g95edbb101_1280.png?resize=666%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 666w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/circulatory-g95edbb101_1280.png?resize=195%2C300&amp;ssl=1 195w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/circulatory-g95edbb101_1280.png?resize=98%2C150&amp;ssl=1 98w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/circulatory-g95edbb101_1280.png?resize=768%2C1180&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/circulatory-g95edbb101_1280.png?w=833&amp;ssl=1 833w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/461;\" \/>Objective:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A few earlier studies have found impaired endothelial function in patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis\/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME\/CFS). The present study investigated large-vessel and small-vessel endothelial function in patients with ME\/CFS.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Study design:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The study was a substudy of the RituxME trial, a national, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study on the effect of rituximab vs. placebo in ME\/CFS patients in Norway.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Flow-mediated_dilation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flow-mediated dilation<\/a> (FMD) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.perimed-instruments.com\/content\/post-occlusive-reactive-hyperemia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">post-occlusive reactive hyperemia<\/a> (PORH) was measured at baseline and after 18 months of treatment in 39 patients and compared with healthy controls. Other outcome measures were symptom severity and various physical function measures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ME\/CFS patients had markedly reduced FMD compared to healthy controls at baseline (5.1% vs. 8.2%, p&lt; 0.0001, adjusted for arterial diameter and sex), and significantly lower microvascular regulation measured by PORH than healthy controls (1354 PU vs. 2208 PU, p = 0.002).<\/p>\n<p>There were no differences between the treatment and placebo groups in symptom changes or vascular measures. As a group, the ME\/CFS patients experienced a slight, but significant improvement in clinical symptoms after 18 months. PORH, but not FMD, was similarly improved (1360 to 1834 PU, p = 0.028). There was no significant correlation between FMD and PORH.<\/p>\n<p>There were non-significant tendencies towards associations between symptom severity\/physical function measures and lower FMD and PORH, and a significant correlation between PORH and steps per 24 hours at baseline.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ME\/CFS patients had reduced macro- and microvascular endothelial function, indicating that vascular homeostasis may play a role in the clinical presentation of this disease.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Endothelial dysfunction and vascular homestasis in ME\/CFS &nbsp; A sub-study of the RituxME trial by Norwegian researchers found a problem in the blood vessels on the heart in a group of people with ME\/CFS. Treatment with Rituximab caused a slight &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/research-endothelial-dysfunction-in-me-cfs\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[7452,52,51,7451,1620,6696,3506,6697,50,4076,5806],"class_list":["post-38300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-christina-saersten-stavland","tag-dr-olav-mella","tag-dr-oystein-fluge","tag-elisabeth-leirgul","tag-endothelial-dysfunction","tag-ingrid-gurvin-rekeland","tag-kari-sorland","tag-miriam-kristine-sandvik","tag-rituximab","tag-rituxme","tag-vascular-dysfunction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5qkYK-9XK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38300"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38316,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38300\/revisions\/38316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}