Carmen Scheibenbogen

Professor Doctor Carmen Scheibenbogen is an Internal Medicine physician, ME/CFS doctor and the Professor for Immunology and Deputy Chair, Institute of Medical Immunology, at the University Hospital Charité in Berlin, Germany. Her research focuses on the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), particularly the characterization of EBV specific B cell and T cell response and the enhanced antibody response against EBV peptides in ME versus healthy controls.

Diagnostic test
Professor Scheibenbogen helped create the CellTrend Diagnostic Test which may help identify a subset of 20-30% of all patients with ME/CFS. These patients have elevated levels of three auto-antibodies, i.e., against the b2-adrenergic receptor, against the muscarinic cholinergic receptor 3 (M3) and against the muscarinic cholinergic receptor 4 (M4).

Awards

 * 2016 Ramsay Award Program grant recipient, sponsored by the Solve ME/CFS Initiative for Autoimmune Signature in CFS/ME. This grant was shared with Madlen Lobel, Charite Universitatsmedizin, Berlin.

Notable studies

 * 2016, Antibodies to β adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic receptors in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
 * 2015, Frequent IgG subclass and mannose binding lectin deficiency in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2015, Polymorphism in COMT is associated with IgG3 subclass level and susceptibility to infection in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2014, Deficient EBV-Specific B- and T-Cell Response in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome FULL TEXT "Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has long been discussed as a possible cause or trigger of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). In a subset of patients the disease starts with infectious mononucleosis and both enhanced and diminished EBV-specific antibody titers have been reported. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the EBV-specific memory B- and T-cell response in patients with CFS. While we observed no difference in viral capsid antigen (VCA)-IgG antibodies, EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA)-IgG titers were low or absent in 10% of CFS patients. Remarkably, when analyzing the EBV-specific memory B-cell reservoir in vitro a diminished or absent number of EBNA-1- and VCA-antibody secreting cells was found in up to 76% of patients. Moreover, the ex vivo EBV-induced secretion of TNF-α and IFN-γ was significantly lower in patients. Multicolor flow cytometry revealed that the frequencies of EBNA-1-specific triple TNF-α/IFN-γ/IL-2 producing CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets were significantly diminished whereas no difference could be detected for HCMV-specific T-cell responses. When comparing EBV load in blood immune cells, we found more frequently EBER-DNA but not BZLF-1 RNA in CFS patients compared to healthy controls suggesting more frequent latent replication. Taken together, our findings give evidence for a deficient EBV-specific B- and T-cell memory response in CFS patients and suggest an impaired ability to control early steps of EBV reactivation. In addition the diminished EBV response might be suitable to develop diagnostic marker in CFS."

Clinic location

 * Charite University Medicine, Berlin, Germany

Talks & interviews

 * 2014, Speaker at the 9th Invest in ME International ME Conference DVD available

Online presence

 * PubMed
 * Institute for Medical Immunology
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Website
 * YouTube

Learn more

 * Institution