Just wondering if anyone has seen these papers and has access to them. Stork delivered this to my inbox today and they look interesting. I keep waiting for a thread to pop up! ETA: I've deleted the links in this original post as moderation received notice that they are broken. Abstracts of the articles are listed down below in this same thread.
This looks like a conference proceedings, probably a set of reviews of previous data mostly, for the benefit of a Japanese society.
Interesting to see Komaroff collaborating on the last one on the list. Here's the version on Pub Med. As you'll see, it's an outline of current biomedical findings, the full article is in Japanese. Brain Nerve. 2018 Jan;70(1):41-54. doi: 10.11477/mf.1416200948. [Neurologic Abnormalities in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Review]. [Article in Japanese] Komaroff AL1, Takahashi R, Yamamura T, Sawamura M. Author information Abstract Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is an illness characterized by fatigue lasting for at least six months, post-exertional malaise, unrefreshing sleep, cognitive impairment and orthostatic intolerance. ME/CFS has been a controversial illness because it is defined exclusively by subjective complaints. However, recent studies of neuroimaging as well as analysis of blood markers, energy metabolism and mitochondrial function have revealed many objective biological abnormalities. Specifically, it is suspected that the symptoms of ME/CFS may be triggered by immune activation - either inside or outside the brain - through release of inflammatory cytokines. In this review, we summarize potentially important recent findings on ME/CFS, focusing on objective evidence.
Edit to add: You're right @Jonathan Edwards, they look like an overview rather than new research, but it's interesting to see what is going on in research in Japan. The first one on the list suggests there has been a focus recently in Japan on getting diagnostic criteria sorted out, but doesn't say what they are. [Diagnosis and Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome]. [Article in Japanese] Kuratsune H1. Author information Abstract We present here the Japanese clinical diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) that were proposed in 2016 by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare study group. The clinical diagnosis criteria of ME/CFS were created to be used by healthcare agencies in charge of primary care practice. We also explain the current prognosis in ME/CFS and medical treatments used in major medical institutions in Japan.
An interesting observation from the history abstract. They say the first patients with ME in Japan was diagnosed in 1990. This one actually mentions a research finding: [Neuroinflammation in the Brain of Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome]. [Article in Japanese] Nakatomi Y1, Kuratsune H, Watanabe Y. Author information Abstract Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is characterized by chronic, profound, disabling, and unexplained fatigue; cognitive impairment; and chronic widespread pain. By using positron emission tomography, our study demonstrated neuroinflammation in the brain of patients with ME/CFS. Neuroinflammation was found to be widespread in the brain areas of the patients with ME/CFS and was associated with the severity of their neuropsychological symptoms. The ongoing research would lead to the establishment of objective diagnostic criteria and development of an appropriate therapy.
And this one suggests there is some biomedical research going on in Japan but doesn't give the results: [New Diagnostic Biomarkers for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome]. [Article in Japanese] Yamano E1, Kataoka Y. Author information Abstract Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a persistent and unexplained pathological state characterized by exertional and severely debilitating fatigue, with/without symptoms of infection or neuropsychiatric symptoms, and with a minimum duration of 6 consecutive months. The pathogenesis of CFS is not fully understood. There are no firmly established diagnostic biomarkers or treatment, due to incomplete understanding of the etiology of CFS and diagnostic uncertainty. We performed comprehensive metabolomic analyses of blood samples obtained from patients with CFS and healthy controls to establish an objective diagnosis of CFS. Here, we review previous findings concerning the immune, endocrine, and metabolic system in animal models for CFS and the patients, and present our results which may contribute to the development of a diagnostic biomarker for CFS.
The immunopathogenesis one talks about cytokines and rituximab, but they don't seem to have caught up with the news that rituximab failed its stage 3 trial.
I think this is the PET study from a couple of years back. Very interesting but still waiting for replication.
I had thought this was the replication PET scan study as it was published on Facebook !! Very disappointing if it isn't. The same Japanese team are doing a large replication study of the 2014 one, I'm so disappointed this now looks like it might not be that, I've told family too :-(
Does anyone read Japanese? I think it unlikely that a group would release major new findings in Japanese but it is possible.
Do these researchers ever attend conferences in the US or Europe (including the UK)? If this is good research it would be great to have them conflabbing with everybody. Could they be invited to the IiME conference/colloquium?
I don't know if its a 'cultural' thing where we focus more on the anglophone sphere or perhaps we have in the past paid more attention to what we see as the 'star' researchers in the field but what I thought was one of the most important pieces of ME/CFS research published in the last few decades (not least because it identified discrete sub-groups using objective measures) was largely ignored as far as I can see despite being published in English : https://www.researchgate.net/public...anese_Childhood_Chronic_Fatigue_Syndrome_CCFS
Google Translate can handle PDF documents, if someone can get their hands on the study. Sci-hub is a dead end on this one.
