Phenotypic characteristics of peripheral immune cells of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome via transmission electron microscopy: A pilot study
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex chronic multi-systemic disease characterized by extreme fatigue that is not improved by rest, and worsens after exertion, whether physical or mental. Previous studies have shown ME/CFS-associated alterations in the immune syste...
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Published in | PloS one Vol. 17; no. 8; p. e0272703 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Public Library of Science
09.08.2022
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex chronic multi-systemic disease characterized by extreme fatigue that is not improved by rest, and worsens after exertion, whether physical or mental. Previous studies have shown ME/CFS-associated alterations in the immune system and mitochondria. We used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to investigate the morphology and ultrastructure of unstimulated and stimulated ME/CFS immune cells and their intracellular organelles, including mitochondria. PBMCs from four participants were studied: a pair of identical twins discordant for moderate ME/CFS, as well as two age- and gender- matched unrelated subjects-one with an extremely severe form of ME/CFS and the other healthy. TEM analysis of CD3/CD28-stimulated T cells suggested a significant increase in the levels of apoptotic and necrotic cell death in T cells from ME/CFS patients (over 2-fold). Stimulated Tcells of ME/CFS patients also had higher numbers of swollen mitochondria. We also found a large increase in intracellular giant lipid droplet-like organelles in the stimulated PBMCs from the extremely severe ME/CFS patient potentially indicative of a lipid storage disorder. Lastly, we observed a slight increase in platelet aggregation in stimulated cells, suggestive of a possible role of platelet activity in ME/CFS pathophysiology and disease severity. These results indicate extensive morphological alterations in the cellular and mitochondrial phenotypes of ME/CFS patients' immune cells and suggest new insights into ME/CFS biology. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0272703 |