from the Cure ME team
The Cure ME team sent out a wonderful summary of the projects that have been underway in 2024 and some exciting new initiatives to expect in 2025
Here are some of the extracts:
The HHV-6 study
Thank you to over 200 participants in the study on the association between symptom exacerbation and HHV6 in people with ME/CFS. The Brunel CureME team, Dr Jackie Cliff and Dr Ji-Sook Lee, are about to submit a new manuscript on differential immune profiles: abnormal T cell activation and cytotoxic T cell frequency in people with mild/moderate or severe ME/CFS. They are excited about the new findings and hope that these differences will help the clinical management of ME/CFS, as well as support the development of new diagnostic tools and treatments.
Next year, they will be investigating blood samples to see whether the increase of HHV-6B in saliva reflects the systemic reactivation of HHV-6B, and seeking to understand why people with ME/CFS are more susceptible to HHV-6B reactivation.
Study on low dose naltrexone (LDN) for ME/CFS patients with COVID-19
Dr Nacul’s clinical and epidemiological studies in Canada includes research to assess if and how the use of low dose naltrexone (LDN) may be beneficial in the population of people who developed ME/CFS, following infection with COVID-19.
**Study on the impact of ME/CFS on oxidative stress funded by the ME Research UK (MERUK)**The preliminary results of a study by Prof Jo Cambridge and Dr Eliana Lacerda suggest dysregulation in energy production affects body functions in people with ME/CFS. Compensatory mechanisms for energy production are deployed, which cause increased “oxidative stress”, and damage to body tissues.
Please sign: Research Case Definition Consensus Statement for ME/CFS
An initiative co-led by Caroline Kingdon has create a consensus statement around clinical definitions of ME/CFS, which we hope will improve the quality of ME/CFS research. The group is looking for signatures of support from people with ME and their carers: https://meassociation.org.uk/jxmt
Cure ME have launched their new website
A hub dedicated to advancing awareness, research and understanding of ME/CFS.
Open evening
Cure ME were excited to host the open evening in September 2024 where they discussed their ongoing external research and were delighted to welcome attendees, both in-person and online. Lani Calvert performed short excerpts from her play, The Room Upstairs, about a daughter's relationship with her mum who has ME/CFS.
Eliana Lacerda gave information about the Biobank and how samples are collected, as well as the preliminary results from study on Antibody discovery novel microarray function proteins in ME/CFS. The results may form the basis of new diagnostic tools for the disease.
The ME Association is proud to fund the running costs at the biobank with the Ramsay Research Fund.
Krista Clarke, University of Surrey spoke on Electrophysiological properties of white blood cells in ME/CFS using dielectrophoresis (DEP) jointly funded by the ME Association & ME Research UK.The evening also included updates on HHV6 study and the Young Emerg programme.
If you missed the event you can watch it online: https://lshtm.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=0cdc46a0-09cb-42bf-869d-b23d009e910d
Exciting new initiatives and collaborations for 2025
Cure ME are delighted to announce a strengthened partnership with YoungEMERG. Research assistant Ella has joined YoungEMERG to help drive forward the shared mission of engaging more young researchers in the field of ME/CFS.
January 2025 interactive webinar with the CureME team will present the latest updates from our research team, and delve into the current state of ME/CFS research.
Further Information
ME Association Post AGM Statement https://meassociation.org.uk/2024/12/me-association-post-agm-statement/ | December 9, 2024
MEA and MERUK Research: Explaining Electrophysiological Properties of Cells in Health and Disease https://meassociation.org.uk/2024/08/explaining-electrophysiological-properties-of-cells/ | August 15, 2024
Professor Robert Dorey and colleagues update on investigating the electrical properties of blood from people with ME/CFS https://meassociation.org.uk/r2ua | July 2, 2024