Maureen Hanson study: gut dysbiosis in ME/CFS

bobby

Well-Known Member
Reduced diversity and altered composition of the gut microbiome in individuals with ME/CFS.

full text: http://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-016-0171-4

abstract said:
Background

Gastrointestinal disturbances are among symptoms commonly reported by individuals diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). However, whether ME/CFS is associated with an altered microbiome has remained uncertain.

Here, we profiled gut microbial diversity by sequencing 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) genes from stool as well as inflammatory markers from serum for cases (n = 48) and controls (n = 39). We also examined a set of inflammatory markers in blood: C-reactive protein (CRP), intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LPS-binding protein (LBP), and soluble CD14 (sCD14).

Results

We observed elevated levels of some blood markers for microbial translocation in ME/CFS patients; levels of LPS, LBP, and sCD14 were elevated in ME/CFS subjects. Levels of LBP correlated with LPS and sCD14 and LPS levels correlated with sCD14. Through deep sequencing of bacterial rRNA markers, we identified differences between the gut microbiomes of healthy individuals and patients with ME/CFS.

We observed that bacterial diversity was decreased in the ME/CFS specimens compared to controls, in particular, a reduction in the relative abundance and diversity of members belonging to the Firmicutes phylum. In the patient cohort, we find less diversity as well as increases in specific species often reported to be pro-inflammatory species and reduction in species frequently described as anti-inflammatory. Using a machine learning approach trained on the data obtained from 16S rRNA and inflammatory markers, individuals were classified correctly as ME/CFS with a cross-validation accuracy of 82.93 %.

Conclusions

Our results indicate dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in this disease and further suggest an increased incidence of microbial translocation, which may play a role in inflammatory symptoms in ME/CFS.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
A lot of this fit - the reduction in anti-inflammatory bacteria and the increase in inflammatory bacteria...- and it was good and a little surprising to see they could so effectively identify ME/CFS patients using their results given how variable the gut bacteria can be. I think it was the combination of reduced bacterial diversity plus evidence of gut translocation that did that.
 

bobby

Well-Known Member
more readable article on the paper (in Cornell Chronicle)
http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/06/indicator-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-found-gut-bacteria

article said:
“Our work demonstrates that the gut bacterial microbiome in ME/CFS patients isn’t normal, perhaps leading to gastrointestinal and inflammatory symptoms in victims of the disease,” said Maureen Hanson, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics and the paper’s senior author. “Furthermore, our detection of a biological abnormality provides further evidence against the ridiculous concept that the disease is psychological in origin,”

“In the future, we could see this technique as a complement to other noninvasive diagnoses, but if we have a better idea of what is going on with these gut microbes and patients, maybe clinicians could consider changing diets, using prebiotics such as dietary fibers or probiotics to help treat the disease,” said Ludovic Giloteaux, a postdoctoral researcher in both Hanson’s and Ley’s labs and first author of the study.
 

Bertiedog

Member
A lot of this fit - the reduction in anti-inflammatory bacteria and the increase in inflammatory bacteria...- and it was good and a little surprising to see they could so effectively identify ME/CFS patients using their results given how variable the gut bacteria can be. I think it was the combination of reduced bacterial diversity plus evidence of gut translocation that did that.

Hi Cort

I have spent hours watching webinars and taking notes regarding gut issues and what I have learned is that it is essential that one is gluten free and often its necessary to be dairy free too. There could be other food issues but these seem to be the worst offenders.
Since cutting out these food groups my energy has come back and have been able to cut back on my steroid for adrenals and also cut back my thyroid medication. Naturally I still have to pace carefully but this morning I was out as our local supermarket at 9 am before going to a Pilates class. Its the first time in more than 16 years I have been able to do this and at 68 it feels like a miracle to be honest.
I still have some problems in my body especially on the right side of my lower back but as long as I still have rest periods I feel very well and can now do 9000 steps daily (since May when I stopped those food groups).

Also I have learned that with this illness and Fibro one is highly likely to have a thyroid issue and probably adrenal too but these can be severely impaired by eating gluten because of that immune system connection. I am reading Dr Datis Kharraziac's book "Why do I still have thyroid symptoms?" When My Lab Tests Are Normal? He gives great explanations of all this.

The reason we have problems with gluten is that due to us all having leaky guts the proteins escape into our blood stream and then get attacked by our immune system. You probably know this anyway but thought I would mention it.! Obviously there is a lot more to it but the gut is probably the first thing to be worked on.

Thanks for all your great articles.
Pam
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
Hi Cort

I have spent hours watching webinars and taking notes regarding gut issues and what I have learned is that it is essential that one is gluten free and often its necessary to be dairy free too. There could be other food issues but these seem to be the worst offenders.
Since cutting out these food groups my energy has come back and have been able to cut back on my steroid for adrenals and also cut back my thyroid medication. Naturally I still have to pace carefully but this morning I was out as our local supermarket at 9 am before going to a Pilates class. Its the first time in more than 16 years I have been able to do this and at 68 it feels like a miracle to be honest.
I still have some problems in my body especially on the right side of my lower back but as long as I still have rest periods I feel very well and can now do 9000 steps daily (since May when I stopped those food groups).

Also I have learned that with this illness and Fibro one is highly likely to have a thyroid issue and probably adrenal too but these can be severely impaired by eating gluten because of that immune system connection. I am reading Dr Datis Kharraziac's book "Why do I still have thyroid symptoms?" When My Lab Tests Are Normal? He gives great explanations of all this.

The reason we have problems with gluten is that due to us all having leaky guts the proteins escape into our blood stream and then get attacked by our immune system. You probably know this anyway but thought I would mention it.! Obviously there is a lot more to it but the gut is probably the first thing to be worked on.

Thanks for all your great articles.
Pam
Thanks Pam,

so gluten and dairy; I guess the underlying question is why so many people with ME/CFS and FM have these problems. What is going on to cause that? A tendency to autoimmunity maybe?
 

Bertiedog

Member
@Cort From reading widely and listening to some many experts on the gut and autoimmunity it would seem that gluten can cause a leaky gut in everybody whether they are currently healthy or not but for some of us, possibly through our genetics we end up with autoimmune issues where the brain and any organ can be attacked. The experts say it can lead to cancers as well as dementias. Perhaps it is not properly understood yet but I do know they say the process is molecular mimicry. I feel like I have a new brain now that is very alert to everything that is going on around me, its quite fascinating.

Its 2 months now since gluten free and one week since dairy free and for the past 8 weeks I have averaged 9200 steps daily whereas before this my average was around 7000. I have been able to cut my thyroid medication right down and also my steroid as everything seems to be functioning so much better.
Pam
 

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