Decoding the role of circulating extracellular vesicles in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic wncephalomyelitis: an exploratory pilot study

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex, heterogeneous and multisystem neuroimmune condition of unknown specific cause, and for which no clinically established diagnostic tests, and no universally FDA-approved drugs for treatment are avai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of extracellular vesicles Vol. 7; p. 77
Main Authors Castro-Marrero, Jesus, Serrano-Pertierra, Esther, Oliveira-Rodríguez, Myriam, Zaragozá, Maria Cleofé, Alegre, Jose, Blanco-López, Maria del Carmen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.2018
Subjects
CD63 antigen
CD9 antigen
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Extracellular vesicles
Fatigue
Nanoparticles
Patients
Size distribution
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Summary:Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex, heterogeneous and multisystem neuroimmune condition of unknown specific cause, and for which no clinically established diagnostic tests, and no universally FDA-approved drugs for treatment are available. CFS/ME is characterized by an extreme disabling fatigue and other core symptoms that do not improve with rest; it persists for more than 6 months, and cannot be explained by any underlying medical condition. Circulating EVs could be an emerging tool for biomedical research in CFS/ME. To date, no data on EV biology in CFS/ME are as yet available. This study aimed to isolate and characterize the bloodderived EVs from CFS/ME patients and to address its utility as effective non-invasive biomarkers in the clinical setting. Methods: Serum-derived EVs were isolated from 10 Spanish CFS/ME patients and 5 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) using a polymer-based precipitation method. Their protein cargo, size distribution and concentration were analyszed by western blot and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Furthermore, EVs were detected using a lateral flow immunoassay based on exosomal tetraspanins markers CD9 and CD63 as targets. Results: We found that the EV-enriched fraction amount was significantly higher in CFS/ME than in HCs (p = 0.007). EVs were significantly smaller than in CFS/ME compared with HCs (p = 0.014). No significant differences were found regarding the CD9 signal intensity on EVenriched fractions between CFS/ME and HCs. However, CD63 levels were somewhat higher in CFS/ME than in HCs, although this trend did not reach statistical significance. Summary/Conclusion: This is the first study to show preliminary evidence of changes in the number and size of circulating EVs in CFS/ME, indicating their possible potential involvement in illness pathogenesis. Further studies focusing on critical role that EVs may play in CFS/ME are now urgently warranted.
ISSN:2001-3078