Insights into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) phenotypes through comprehensive metabolomics
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ABSTRACT: The pathogenesis of ME/CFS, a disease characterized by unexplained debilitating fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances, orthostatic intolerance, fever, lymphadenopathy and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is poorly understood. There are no validated diagnostic tests or interventions to mitigate disease. Here we report association modeling, biomarker discovery, biochemical enrichment analysis and topological network visualization of plasma metabolomic, fecal bacterial metagenomic and clinical data from 50 ME/CFS patients and 50 healthy controls. Through targeted and untargeted metabolomics analyses we confirm earlier reports of specific alterations in plasma levels of choline, carnitine and complex lipid metabolism in ME/CFS. We also demonstrate that patients with ME/CFS and IBS have a unique metabolomic profile that includes increased plasma levels of ceramide, a waxy lipid implicated in suppression of electron transport, insulin and leptin resistance and apoptosis. Integration of fecal metagenomic and plasma metabolomic data resulted in a stronger predictive model of ME/CFS (cross-validated AUC=0.836) than either metagenomic (cross-validated AUC=0.745) or metabolomic (cross-validated AUC=0.820) analysis alone. Our findings may provide insights into the pathogenesis of ME/CFS and ME/CFS subtypes, and suggest pathways for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
ORGANISM(S): Human Homo Sapiens
TISSUE(S): Blood
DISEASE(S): Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic Fatigue Syndrome
SUBMITTER: Oliver Fiehn
PROVIDER: ST000800 | MetabolomicsWorkbench | Wed Jul 19 00:00:00 BST 2017
REPOSITORIES: MetabolomicsWorkbench
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