Stress-Induced Changes in Immune Signatures in ME/CFS Patients Determined by Transcriptome Analysis

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic, complex multi-organ illness characterized by unexplained debilitating fatigue and post-exertional malaise (PEM). We evaluated transcriptomic changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of ME/CFS patients undergoing an exercise challenge and explored the transcriptomic response to exercise and recovery in PBMC of ME/CFS patients, as compared to healthy controls using RNA sequencing technology. As transcriptomic changes in ME/CFS patients are still in the phase of discovery, analysis of data has to be stringent, and the most important results have to be validated by a different technology, such as real-time PCR or NanoString.