Autoantibodies to Vasoregulative G-Protein-Coupled Receptors Correlate with Symptom Severity, Autonomic Dysfunction and Disability in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Helma Freitag, Marvin Szklarski, S. Lorenz, Franziska Sotzny, Sandra Bauer, Aurélie Philippe, Claudia Kedor, Patricia Grabowski, Tanja Lange, Gabriela Riemekasten, Harald Heidecke, Carmen Scheibenbogen
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is an acquired complex disease with patients suffering from the cardinal symptoms of fatigue, post-exertional malaise (PEM), cognitive impairment, pain and autonomous dysfunction. ME/CFS is triggered by an infection in the majority of patients. Initial evidence for a potential role of natural regulatory autoantibodies (AAB) to beta-adrenergic (AdR) and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M-AChR) in ME/CFS patients comes from a few studies. METHODS: = 116) by ELISA. The severity of disease, symptoms and autonomic dysfunction were assessed by questionnaires. RESULTS: We found levels of most AABs significantly correlated with key symptoms of fatigue and muscle pain in patients with infection-triggered onset. The severity of cognitive impairment correlated with AT1-R- and ETA-R-AAB and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms with alpha1/2-AdR-AAB. In contrast, the patients with non-infection-triggered ME/CFS showed fewer and other correlations. CONCLUSION: Correlations of specific AAB against G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) with symptoms provide evidence for a role of these AAB or respective receptor pathways in disease pathomechanism.