Autopsy in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

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ME/CFS post-mortem brain studies detecting enterovirus infection[edit | edit source]

Three post-mortem studies have found enterovirus infections in the brains of myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome patients:

McGarry 1994 study[edit | edit source]

In 1994 Mcgarry, Gow and Behan published an autopsy study of a 30 year old female who had ME/CFS for 5 years and died of complications after a suicide attempt. Brain samples were obtained from the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital cortices and from the mid-brain, hypothalamus and brainstem. Using PCR, enteroviral RNA was found in the heart, muscles, hypothalamus and brainstem of this patient. The RNA showed an 83% homology to coxsackievirus B3. Control tissue samples taken from 8 brains (four patients who died of cerebrovascular diseases, and four others who had depression and committed suicide) showed no evidence of enteroviral RNA.[1]

Richardson 2001 study[edit | edit source]

The John Richardson 2001 study examined the brain tissues of a male ME/CFS patient who died from suicide by hanging. This patient had high titers to coxsackievirus B1, and also titers to coxsackievirus B4. Brain tissue samples were sent to Professor James Mowbray, who used immunoperoxidase staining with monoclonal antibody D8/1 to detect enteroviral VP1 protein. Enterovirus VP1 protein was found in fibroblasts in the adventitia of small blood vessels in the cerebral cortex, and there was a patchy distribution of the VP1 protein in a small fraction of the glial cells.[2]Note that most glial cells are astrocytes, and one study found coxsackievirus B can create a persistent infection in human astrocyte cells lines,[3]and another found coxsackievirus B can replicate in the astrocytes of mice brains.[4]

Chia 2015 study[edit | edit source]

A  2015 study by John Chia looked at the brain tissues of another ME/CFS patient, a 23 year old male with high titers to echovirus 11 who who committed suicide 6 years after the onset of symptoms. Using Western blot, Chia found evidence of enterovirus infection in the pontomedullary junction (in the brainstem), medial temporal lobe, lateral frontal cortex, occipital lobe, cerebellum and midbrain. And by RT-PCR, Chia found enterovirus RNA in the frontal cortex, pontomedullary junction.[5]When the virus was sequenced, they found a 92% homology to CVB2, and about 86% to echovirus 30.[6]

Interestingly enough, the first time Chia used RT-PCR to find enterovirus RNA in this patient's brain tissue, he got a negative result. But Chia remembered a phenomenon whereby viral RNA may bind to chromosomal DNA, preventing RT-PCR from detecting the RNA. So Chia used the DNase enzyme to digest the chromosomal DNA in the brain tissue, and after doing this, he was able to find enterovirus RNA in the frontal cortex and pontomedullary junction.[7]

Dr Chia points out that an enterovirus infection in the stomach can travel along the vagus (via reverse axonal transport) and reach the brainstem in around 3 days. In this way, the virus can bypass the blood-brain barrier, and enter into the brainstem, infecting the brain.[8]Chia also says the common wisdom is that in brain infection, you should find the virus in the cerebrospinal fluid; but he points out this is not always true in the case of enterovirus, because even in acute enterovirus 71 infection, only 5% of the cerebrospinal fluid samples are positive, and in the case of ME/CFS, it is not even an acute brain infection, it is a chronic one.[9]

Summary of post-mortem brain studies detecting enterovirus infection[edit | edit source]

The following table summarizes the areas of the brains of ME/CFS patients in which enterovirus infection was found post-mortem:

Brain Study Date Enterovirus Testing Method Areas Of Brain Found Infected With Enterovirus
Mcgarry, Gow and Behan 1994 PCR Hypothalamus and brainstem.
John Richardson 2001 VP1 protein stain Fibroblasts in the adventitia of small blood vessels in the cerebral cortex, and also in a small fraction of the glial cells.
John Chia 2015 Western blot Pontomedullary junction (in the brain stem), medial temporal lobe, lateral frontal cortex, occipital lobe, cerebellum and midbrain.
RT-PCR Frontal cortex, pontomedullary junction.

Other post-mortem brain studies[edit | edit source]

The results of the autopsies of 4 ME/CFS patients were presented at the International Science Symposium on ME/CFS, 2010, Bond University, Australia.[10]

  • A 32 year old male had ME/CFS for 20 years and died of suicide by medication overdose. The autopsy showed excess corpora amylacea in the spinal cord and brain. There were intermediate filaments closely related to glial cells, and maybe within the glia rather than the axons. No evidence of ganglionitis. (EBV negative).
  • A 32 year old female had ME/CFS for 5 years. She refused medical help, was bedridden and refused food and water. She finally died of renal failure. The autopsy showed a focal chronic inflammatory infiltrate (T8 lymphocyes) in the dorsal root ganglia. (EBV negative).
  • A 43 year old female arranged for assisted suicide in Switzerland by barbiturate overdose. The brain showed global ischemia, but this was likely due to the drugs used. Dorsal root ganglia showed mild excess of lymphocytic nodules of nageotte but with no obvious inflammation, but this could represent a subtle chronic inflammatory state.
  • A 31 year old female with ME/CFS may have died from opiate ingestion. She had toxic demyelination with spinal subarachnoid hemorrhage, but she was on warfarin. There was some mild possible chronic ganglionitis.

Links[edit | edit source]

Full text versions of the enterovirus post-mortem brain studies here.

  1. McGarry F, Gow J, Behan PO (1994). "Enterovirus in the chronic fatigue syndrome". Ann Intern Med. 120 (11): 972–3. PMID 8172448.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Richardson, J. (2011). "Viral Isolation from Brain in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis". Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. 9 (3–4): 15–19. doi:10.1300/J092v09n03_03. ISSN 1057-3321.
  3. Zhang X, Zheng Z, Shu B, Liu X, Zhang Z, Liu Y; et al. (2013). "Human astrocytic cells support persistent coxsackievirus B3 infection". J Virol. 87 (22): 12407–21. doi:10.1128/JVI.02090-13. PMC 3807905. PMID 24027313. Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Zeng J, Wang G, Li W, Zhang D, Chen X, Xin G; et al. (2013). "Induction of cytopathic effect and cytokines in coxsackievirus B3-infected murine astrocytes". Virol J. 10: 157. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-157. PMC 3680086. PMID 23693026. Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "Chronic enterovirus infection in a patient with myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) – clinical, virologic and pathological analysis. John Chia, David Wang, Andrew Chia, Rabiha El-Habbal. 2015. Presented at the 19th International Picornavirus Meeting, 2016". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. "Dr John Chia's presentation at the Invest in ME London Conference 2015 (available on DVD), timecode 27:32". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. "Dr John Chia's presentation at the Invest in ME London Conference 2015 (available on DVD), timecode 26:46". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. "Dr John Chia's presentation at the State of Knowledge Workshop on ME/CFS, National Institutes of Health, April 2011, day 1, part 1, timecode 2:20". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  9. "Dr John Chia's presentation at the State of Knowledge Workshop on ME/CFS, National Institutes of Health, April 2011, day 1, part 2, timecode 9:33". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. "Pathology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Pilot Study of Four Autopsy Cases. DG O'Donovan, T Harrower, S Cader, LJ Findley, C Shepherd, A Chaudhuri. Presented at the International Science Symposium on ME/CFS, 2010, Bond University, Australia". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)