Ash
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
That is good.
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Brain and muscle chemistry in ME/CFS and long COVID: a 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy study, 2025, Godlewska et al
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wigglethemouse
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Video from Jarred Younger discussing this study (I have not watched):
065 - Elevated brain lactate in ME/CFS chronic fatigue (converging evidence)
Description : A new paper is out using a powerful 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to find brain abnormalities in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The open-access paper is here:
Brain and muscle chemistry in myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID: a 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy study
065 - Elevated brain lactate in ME/CFS chronic fatigue (converging evidence)
Description : A new paper is out using a powerful 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to find brain abnormalities in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The open-access paper is here:
Brain and muscle chemistry in myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID: a 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy study
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wigglethemouse
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Thanks to @ME/CFS Skeptic excellent summary write-ups I was able to make the following comment on the video. I'm happy Dr Younger was receptive to the information. Thanks again @ME/CFS Skeptic for providing the summary!
Comment on video:
Some comments on the paper (Notes from ME/CFS Science on X)
* The increase in lactate was in the anterior cingulate cortex, a different area to what your study (lac/cr) reported.
* the groups (n= 24) were small and not properly matched for sex and age. ME/CFS cases were 1/3 male, controls were all female.
* The authors tested multiple metabolites without statistical correction for multiple comparisons.
* In a previous 7 Tesla MRI study, the same authors found lower levels of creatine in ME/CFS which was not replicated here.
* There were also no correlations between lactate and fatigue scores and the results of cognitive testing.
* The authors also mention that lactate is difficult to measure in the brain, so the results must be treated cautiously.
This was Dr. Youngers reply
I agree with all 6 stated limitations. I actually missed the male/female issue with the controls.
And great catch that the whole-brain results I get are strongest in the mid-cingulate instead of the anterior cingulate. I wish they could have examined the mid-cingulate and posterior-cingulate, but I know their scan time is limited.
And they did conduct many tests, though the ME/CFS versus controls would survive most corrections for multiple corrections (other tests would definitely fall out with a correction).
And lactate largely overlaps with macromolecules in the spectra and so the lactate is mostly modelled, using the little peak to the right of the main macromolecule peak. As a result, there could be errors in the lactate measurements.
There is another sequence (J-Difference editing) that isolates lactate, but it isn't available for whole-brain MRS imaging that I do. Thanks for posting the important caveats I did not cover! - Jarred Younger
Comment on video:
Some comments on the paper (Notes from ME/CFS Science on X)
* The increase in lactate was in the anterior cingulate cortex, a different area to what your study (lac/cr) reported.
* the groups (n= 24) were small and not properly matched for sex and age. ME/CFS cases were 1/3 male, controls were all female.
* The authors tested multiple metabolites without statistical correction for multiple comparisons.
* In a previous 7 Tesla MRI study, the same authors found lower levels of creatine in ME/CFS which was not replicated here.
* There were also no correlations between lactate and fatigue scores and the results of cognitive testing.
* The authors also mention that lactate is difficult to measure in the brain, so the results must be treated cautiously.
This was Dr. Youngers reply
I agree with all 6 stated limitations. I actually missed the male/female issue with the controls.
And great catch that the whole-brain results I get are strongest in the mid-cingulate instead of the anterior cingulate. I wish they could have examined the mid-cingulate and posterior-cingulate, but I know their scan time is limited.
And they did conduct many tests, though the ME/CFS versus controls would survive most corrections for multiple corrections (other tests would definitely fall out with a correction).
And lactate largely overlaps with macromolecules in the spectra and so the lactate is mostly modelled, using the little peak to the right of the main macromolecule peak. As a result, there could be errors in the lactate measurements.
There is another sequence (J-Difference editing) that isolates lactate, but it isn't available for whole-brain MRS imaging that I do. Thanks for posting the important caveats I did not cover! - Jarred Younger