Germany's "National Decade Against Post-Infectious Diseases"

[justlxsa]

In the last 2 months, I gathered some information on what was submitted for the first funding guideline (Therapies), there were 44 proposals for module 1 which is the module concerning medication and therapies.

Of course I don’t know all 44 proposals but for example there was one for BTK inhibitors, one for immunoglobulins, one for betablockers/ivabradin, one for ublituximab (i think), one for rapamycin and one for glp-1’s.

Will have to see which ones get through- and I would say these are the typical ones we’d suspect seeing in Germany as it is a rather autoimmune/ immune type of research nation at the moment.

 

[Dude]

Of course I don’t know all 44 proposals but for example there was one for BTK inhibitors, one for immunoglobulins, one for betablockers/ivabradin, one for ublituximab (i think), one for rapamycin and one for glp-1’s.

Interesting, yes, they seem to be focusing quite heavily on the autoimmune hypothesis.

Do we know which BTK inhibitor might be used?

I've been reading a little about this. What I find particularly interesting is that BTK is not only involved in B cell activation but also plays an important role in cells of the innate immune system, such as monocytes and macrophages.

Single-cell transcriptomics of the immune system in ME/CFS at baseline and following symptom provocation (2024)

In theory, this could allow targeting several mechanisms simultaneously: potentially dysfunctional B cell activity as well as chronic inflammatory processes.

I also find the potential effects on microglia in the central nervous system interesting. Some BTK inhibitors can cross the blood brain barrier and influence immune signalling pathways within the CNS.

This could be particularly interesting in the context of neuroinflammation, brain fog and sensory hypersensitivity.

The ZonMw report discusses Acalabrutinib and Zanubrutinib, among others, as potential candidates from this drug class. As far as I know, however, no specific drug has been selected for an ME/CFS trial yet.
ZonMw report

Obviously, this is all still hypothetical, but I find the approach quite interesting because it could potentially target both the adaptive and innate immune systems.

 

[forestglip]

Thread for a planned whole genome sequencing study within the National Decade project: Whole Genome Sequencing: Nako- Pais, Prof. Annette Peters, Germany

 

[justlxsa]

I just listened to Helena Radbruchs talk at DGN Kongress 2026 (one needs access and it’s pretty costly and you have to be a doctor so I sadly can’t share but also it’s in German)- either way, at the end she said something along the lines of “if someone has an ME/CFS autopsy case I would be very interested”.

Her current focus in the one ME/CFS study she is doing is gut- brain axis and neuroinflammation and muscle from what I’ve gathered from the talk but that can change I think.
And first we need a brain/ tissue/ organ bank …

 

[EndME]

I just listened to Helena Radbruchs talk at DGN Kongress 2026 (one needs access and it’s pretty costly and you have to be a doctor so I sadly can’t share but also it’s in German)- either way, at the end she said something along the lines of “if someone has an ME/CFS autopsy case I would be very interested”.

Her current focus in the one ME/CFS study she is doing is gut- brain axis and neuroinflammation and muscle from what I’ve gathered from the talk but that can change I think.
And first we need a brain/ tissue/ organ bank …

I wonder what her dad? thinks about the B-cell work happening in Berlin.

 

[OrganicChilli]

I wonder what her dad? thinks about the B-cell work happening in Berlin.

This guy?

https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/speaker/andreas-radbruch

Andreas Radbruch, a biologist by education, is Director of the German Rheumatism Research Center in Berlin, a Leibniz Institute, and Professor of Rheumatology at the Charité Medical Center and Humboldt University of Berlin. Andreas Radbruch developed a line of research aiming at a molecular understanding of immune reactions and immunological memory. He described the organization of memory plasma cells and memory T helper (Th) lymphocytes in bone marrow, and identified memory plasma cells secreting pathogenic antibodies as novel target in chronic immune-mediated diseases.