Review Blood virome research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: challenges and opportunities, 2024, Li et al

[Nightsong]

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating disease with a complex clinical presentation and an unknown etiology. Various viral infections have been proposed as potential triggers of ME/CFS onset, but no specific pathogen has been identified in all cases of postinfectious ME/CFS. The symptomatology of the postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, or long COVID, mirrors that of ME/CFS, with nearly half of long COVID patients meeting ME/CFS diagnostic criteria. The influx of newly diagnosed patients has reinvigorated interest in ME/CFS pathogenesis research, with an emphasis on viral triggers. This review summarizes the current understanding of ME/CFS research on viral triggers, including blood virome screening studies. To further elucidate the molecular basis of ME/CFS, there is a need to develop innovative bioinformatics tools capable of analyzing complex virome data and integrating multiomics information.

Link | PDF (Cur Op Virol, November 2024, open access)

 

[wigglethemouse]

OMF and SolveME have supported Dawei Li, a young researcher working in ME/CFS.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI147084 and AI159710), Solve ME/CFS Initiative Ramsay Research Grant Program, Open Medicine Foundation, The Cornell ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center (U54AI178855), and The Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ICanCME) Research Network. The authors thank Dr. Bhupesh Prusty, Dr. David Maughan, Synanth Texocaelum, Samuel Keating, and Dr. David Bjorklund for their suggestions and comments on the manuscript.