Investigation of PEM and ME/CFS-associated changes in tryptophan metabolism at the host and microbiome level

Project description

The BioSig-PEM research network's approach will provide critical insights to develop novel disease-based diagnostic and therapeutic intervention points for ME/CFS.

ME/CFS is a complex and highly debilitating disease for which there is currently no proven therapy. Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is the cardinal symptom of ME/CFS. It is not yet clear why certain patients develop PEM and whether there are diagnostic options to predict or even prevent the manifestation of PEM. BioSig-PEM pursues the hypothesis that repeated single acute stresses unmask different molecular patterns of PEM. The overarching goal of the consortium is to identify key pathobiological signatures of PEM phenotypes in ME/CFS in order to create the basis for new diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic approaches. BioSig-PEM pursues the following sub-goals for the clinical phenotyping of ME/CFS:

1) comprehensive clinical phenotyping of ME/CFS patients at three clinical centers (Jena, Berlin, Munich);

2) identification of PEM-associated pathobiological immuno-metabolic signatures and multimodal brain imaging for the effects of repeated short-term physical stress; and

3) identification of molecular markers of the endothelium and host-microbiome co-metabolism.

At the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, stool samples from ME/CFS patients are being examined using metagenomic shotgun sequencing to determine microbial tryptophan metabolism. Multi-omics data analyses will then be used to identify specific metabolic factors in ME/CFS with PEM and thus gain a deeper understanding of individual PEM phenotypes.

(Description adapted from project website: see link above)