Brain

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Main article: Neurology of ME/CFS

One six year longitudinal MRI study found that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (per Fukuda & Canadian Consensus Criteria) is associated with decreases in white matter, gray matter and blood volume deficits in the brain as compared to healthy controls.

A 2017 study by Natelson, et al, showed that:

• patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have higher brain ventricular lactate, more abnormal spinal fluids, lower brain glutathione, and reduced cerebral blood flow than controls,
• psychiatric comorbidity does not influence any of these potential biological markers of CFS,
• 50% of the patients had more than one of these abnormalities, and
• a subgroup of CFS patients with brain abnormalities may have an underlying encephalopathy producing their illness.

Microglia

Microglia

• "Microglia in Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", About Health, 22 Feb 2016.

Notable studies

• 2018, Brain function characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome: A task fMRI study (Full Text)
• 2018, Neuroinflammation in the Brain of Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• 2017, Grey and white matter differences in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – A voxel-based morphometry study
• 2017, CNS findings in chronic fatigue syndrome and a neuropathological case report
• 2016, Relative increase in choline in the occipital cortex in chronic fatigue syndrome

Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC) - A set of diagnostic criteria used to diagnose ME/CFS, developed by a group of practicing ME/CFS clinicians in 2003. The CCC is often considered to be the most complex criteria, but possibly the most accurate, with the lowest number of patients meeting the criteria. Led to the development of the International Consensus Criteria (ICC) in 2011.

cerebral blood flow (CBF) - the amount of blood that goes through the arterial tree in the brain in a given amount of time

microglia A type of immune cell, called a macrophage, that lives in the brain. For historical reasons, macrophages have different names based on the part of the body that they normally live in. Macrophages that normally live in the blood are called monocytes. Macrophages that normally live in the skin are called Langerhans cells. Macrophages that normally live in the liver are called Kupffer cells. And macrophages that normally live in the central nervous system are called microglia. Microglia were originally classified as glial cells, under the assumption that the cells had a merely structural function, before it was realized that the cells were in fact immune cells. As the "sentinel cells" of the central nervous system, microglia survey their environment for abnormalities such as infection or tissue damage, and then initiate an immune response to fight the infection or repair the tissue damage.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

central nervous system (CNS) - One of the two parts of the human nervous system, the other part being the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that travel from the central nervous system into the various organs and tissues of the body.