Comparative Analysis of Extracellular Vesicles in Patients with Severe and Mild Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - PubMed (original) (raw)
Comparative Analysis of Extracellular Vesicles in Patients with Severe and Mild Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Hector Bonilla et al. Front Immunol. 2022.
Abstract
Myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious disease whose cause has yet to be identified. Objective markers of the disease are also not well understood and would serve as important tools in diagnosis and management. One potential biomarker or transmitter of immune signals in ME/CFS is the extracellular vesicle (EV) compartment. These small, membrane bound particles have been shown to play a key role in intercellular signaling. Our laboratory has focused on methods of detection of EVS in clinical samples. In this study we explored whether the prevalence of EVs in the plasma of participants with mild or severe ME/CFS differed from the plasma of healthy control participants. By staining for multiple cell surface molecules, plasma EVs could be fingerprinted as to their cell of origin. Our study revealed a significant correlation between severe ME/CSF and levels of EVs bearing the B cell marker CD19 and the platelet marker CD41a, though these changes were not significant after correction for multiple comparisons. These findings point to potential dysregulation of B cell and platelet activation or homeostasis in ME/CFS, which warrants validation in a replication cohort and further exploration of potential mechanisms underlying the association.
Keywords: ME/CFS; cell signaling; extracellular vesicle (EV); inflammation; soluble factors of immune system.
Copyright © 2022 Bonilla, Hampton, Marques de Menezes, Deng, Montoya, Anderson and Norris.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Figures
Figure 1
EV levels and phenotype. The concentration of EVs expressing a given cellular marker is shown for each of 20 markers, in addition to the total EV count. The bars represent mean EV levels for each group. Twenty control participants were compared to 10 each with mild or severe ME/CFS. The lower limit of EV detection was set as 0.01 EVs/μl. *p < 0.05, ** < 0.01 by ANOVA, with all groups compared to each other.
Figure 2
EV quantitation by nanoparticle tracking analysis. EV concentration was verified in a subset of 10 control participants and 5 each mild or severe ME/CFS participants. (A) EV particle counts and (B) the mean size distribution were determined by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). There were no significant differences in total EV count and size characteristics of EVs between the groups by Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn’s multiple comparison post hoc test. (C) Representative graphs of nanoparticle tracking analysis showing the EV particle-size distribution.