AutonoME Autoimmunity as a cause of ME/CFS symptoms
One idea about why people get ME/CFS is that their own immune system starts attacking their own bodies. The team has already tested this idea by studying people with long COVID, which resembles ME/CFS in many ways. When they took antibodies from long COVID patients and gave them to mice, the mice became as sick as people with long COVID.
led by:
Dr. Jeroen den Dunnen and team
EnergiseME Evaluation of the link between auto-immunity and derangements in immune cell metabolism and function in ME/CFS patients
In the EnergiseME project, researchers will collect blood samples from adult and teenage ME/CFS patients. They will study these samples to understand how their cells' mitochondria and the way their white blood cells use energy are affected. They will do this through special imaging tests, studying molecules in blood and looking at how things move in cells. They will also test how certain substances in the blood affect the function of some of the patients' cells, and how they interact with nerve cells.
led by:
Dr. Niels Eijkelkamp and team
IMMUNESTRATIFY The molecular immune signature in ME/CFS as stratification tool for future personalized treatment
For this project blood samples from the people with ME/CFS from the NMCB will be studied. This project aims to improve our understanding on the role of the immune system in ME/CFS and provide clues for the development of new treatments. The immune signatures detected in ME/CFS patients will be made available as a diagnostic test.
led by:
Dr. Marjan Versnel and team
Brain changes in ME/CFS Post-mortem analyses of neuro-endocrine, microglial and mitochondrial mechanisms
ME/CFS is characterized by neurological symptoms and is frequently considered a brain disease. However, we don’t understand what changes are happening within the brain because brain tissue from people with ME/CFS haven’t been collected or studied yet. Together with ME/CFS patient associations and the Netherlands Brain Bank, the researchers will start a program brain donor program where people with ME/CFS can donate their brains for scientific researcher. Their goal is to ask at least 1,000 people with ME/CFS so that they can register up to 200 donors.
led by:
Prof. dr. Inge Huitinga and team
Converging neurobiological and immune pathways in ME/CFS and PAIS
ME and CFS, or ME/CFS, and post-acute infectious syndromes (PAIS) are similar on clinical and biological levels. Patients from both groups suffer crippling symptoms and we still don’t have a good and reliable way to diagnose or treat them. It is now time for researchers in these different disease areas to join forces and work together for a common goal.
led by:
Dr. Ruud P.H. Raijmakers and team
MuscleME Explaining skeletal muscle-related symptoms in patients with ME/CFS: from skeletal muscle to exercise immunology
The main goal of the MuscleME project is to gain a better understanding of what happens in the muscles of people with ME/CFS. The researchers will look at blood and muscle samples from these patients and compare them with samples from people without the disease to see if there are any changes in how their muscles function and in muscle structure. They will also investigate why exercise causes people with ME/CFS to feel worse and whether there is a link between the immune system and the way muscles change.
led by:
Dr. Rob Wüst and team
