Virus infection and reactivation and gastrointestinal microbiome in ME/CFS

Project description

The intestinal microbiome (bacteria and viruses in the intestines) is important for the development of the immune system and defense against viruses. At the same time, some viruses also cause abnormalities in the immune system and the intestinal microbiome. It is not yet clear what the relationship is between viruses and the intestinal microbiome and what role both play in ME/CFS. This project investigates the relationship between viruses and the intestinal microbiome in ME/CFS patients and may thereby help develop new diagnostic biomarkers for ME/CFS and identify patients who may benefit from antiviral or microbiome-oriented treatments, such as fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). With a fecal microbiota transplant, stools with healthy bacteria are transferred from a healthy donor to a patient's intestinal system to restore the balance of bacteria in the intestines.

This project aims to:

1) Analyse the activity of viruses such as B19, EBV, HCMV, HHV-6, HHV-7, and body-specific remnants of ancestral retroviral infections (infections from the generations caused by certain viruses) in ME/CFS patients and healthy controls.

2) Determine the composition of the microbiome (bacteria and viruses) in the stool of ME/CFS patients and healthy controls.

3) Measure the intestinal barrier in ME/CFS patients and healthy controls.

4) Investigate the relationship between the intestinal barrier, intestinal microbiome and virus activity.

5) Investigate how the intestinal microbiome of ME/CFS patients affects the intestinal barrier and inflammatory reactions in a laboratory model.

To begin with, the team determines the activity of viruses in the serum, white blood cells and saliva in some of the biomaterials from the SNCB cohort. In addition, they map the intestinal microbiome and intestinal virome (viruses in the intestine) with metagenomic sequencing (DNA analysis) of stool samples. The intestinal barrier is then examined via biomarkers in the blood and stool. The findings are compared with the microbiome and viroma data of participants of the ME/CFS Lines cohort. Finally, an intestinal model is examined in the laboratory with intestinal cells and white blood cells from healthy individuals. This model is exposed to the intestinal microbiome of healthy individuals and ME/CFS patients from the NMCB cohort. In doing so, the researchers will measure the intestinal barrier and inflammation.

With this study, the researchers aim to gain more insight into the relationship between activation patterns of viruses, the composition of the intestinal microbiome and intestinal virome, and the intestinal barrier in ME/CFS and the effect of the ME/CFS microbiome on the intestinal barrier and inflammation. The researchers expect that there is a link between abnormalities in the intestinal microbiome and the activity of viruses in ME/CFS patients. In addition, the intestinal microbiome is expected to cause deterioration of the intestinal barrier and inflammation. The researchers believe that insights from this study may contribute to finding new biomarkers for ME/CFS, which may result in recommending antiviral medication or a microbiome-oriented treatment (such as faecal microbiota transplantation) options.

Description adapted from project website: see link above.