Biomarkers in ME/CFS sufferers

What is the project about?

Our research is a multidisciplinary approach to investigate ME/CFS which aims to take some blood, urine and faecal samples from 60 people (including 20 healthy controls), during two phases of illness. This includes when the person is experiencing a period of feeling unwell, and when their symptoms are reduced. There will also be a series of questionnaires that gather health and personal information about you, so that we can match information about you with your samples and ME/CFS symptoms.

We intend to examine the components in your blood (biomarkers) that may inform us about the differences between what is often called an ME/CFS crash (where the person feels very unwell) and then we will re-examine blood and urine biomarkers when the same person is feeling considerably better. Biomarkers include ‘cytokines’ that may inform us about inflammation and how your body is responding to your current period of illness. By matching a period when you feel sick and a period of when you are well, we may see some differences.

Difficulty with sleep is often experienced by those diagnosed with ME/CFS, so participants in the study will undergo sleep monitoring for a night (or a 12-hour period to match your usual sleeping pattern). We will apply a sleep monitor to you, which will measure your bodily activity overnight. We will then retrieve the sleep monitor the following day.

Who is undertaking the project?

This project is being conducted by Dr Michael Musker, Enterprise Fellow - Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Research and Education Group, UniSA Clinical & Health Sciences, and Dr Martin Lewis, Head of Neuropsychiatric Laboratory - SAHMRI & Adelaide University.