Dikoma Shungu

Dr Dikoma C. Shunga is a Professor of Physics in Radiology and member of the Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease at Cornell University in New York, the United States. His research focuses on developing advanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and imaging (MRI) methods to apply  in clinical and biomedical research. He has used MRS to measure brain lactic acid, the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) and metabolites in chronic fatigue syndrome. . His work has been funded by the NIH and the Solve ME/CFS Initiative.

Raised lactic acid and lowered glutathone levels in the brain
In a series of three studies, Prof Shungu found high levels of lactic acid in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid and significant correlation between lactic acid levels and the severity of mental fatigue in ME/CFS patients. He later went on to discover levels of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH) reduced by 36% in brain tissue and suggested oxidative stress was playing a role in ME/CFS.

Supplementation with N-Acetylcysteine
At the 2016 IACFS/ME confernce Dr Shungu presented evidence that supplementing patients with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) raised levels of glutathione in the brains of patients and their symptoms were improved.

In late 2020, Dikoma Shungu registered a randomized clinical trial to determine the effects of NAC supplementation on ME/CFS patients with low glutathione levels, especially investigating any change in glutathione levels and oxidative stress.

Notable studies

 * 2008, Assessment of GABA and Glutamate/Glutamine at 3.0 T in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Major Depressive Disorder and Healthy Volunteers - (Full text)
 * 2008, Ventricular cerebrospinal fluid lactate is increased in CFS compared with generalized anxiety disorder: an in vivo 3.0 T 1H MRS imaging study - (Full text)
 * 2010, Increased ventricular lactate in CFS measured by 1H MRS imaging at 3.0 T. II: comparison with major depressive disorder - (Full text)
 * 2012, Increased ventricular lactate in chronic fatigue syndrome. III. Relationships to cortical glutathione and clinical symptoms implicate oxidative stress in disorder pathophysiology - (Full text)
 * 2017, Elevations of ventricular lactate levels occur in both chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia - (Full text)
 * 2017, Multimodal and simultaneous assessments of brain and spinal fluid abnormalities in chronic fatigue syndrome and the effects of psychiatric comorbidity - (Full Text)

Online presence

 * Weill Cornell Medical College: Dikoma Shungu
 * PubMed: Dikoma Shungu

Learn more

 * Health Rising: Brain on Fire (October 2013)
 * Solve ME/CFS Initiative: New $2 million CFS grant awarded to Dr Dikoma Shungu team