Patrick McGowan

Patrick O. McGowan, PhD, is an epigenetics researcher and Assistant Professor at the Centre for Environmental Epigenetics and Development at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Work with epigenetics
Dr. Patrick McGowan's epigenetics work has been supported by The Solve ME/CFS Initiative. Epigenetics is the research field that studies changes in the regulation of genes that are influenced by non-genetic or external factors, such as chemical imbalance, nutrition and the environment. The epigenome of approximately 100 ME/CFS patients and 100 healthy controls are being analyzed by McGowan's laboratory. Early results indicate that a number of epigenetic markers are associated with the response to glucocorticoids and certain ME/CFS symptoms. The epigenetic marks also appear to be distinct in immune cells from ME/CFS patients that show a robust response to the glucocorticoids. The results are preliminary, but suggest epigenetic markers may one day be helpful in classifying subtypes of the disease, and in identifying environmental and other non-genetic factors in ME/CFS symptoms.

Notable studies

 * 2018, Integration of DNA methylation & health scores identifies subtypes in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (Abstract)
 * 2017, Epigenetic modifications and glucocorticoid sensitivity in [[ME/CFS|Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) (Full Text)
 * 2014, DNA Methylation Modifications Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (by Wilfred C. de Vega, Suzanne D. Vernon, Patrick O. McGowan) (Full Text)

Webinar

 * Aug 21, 2014 Epigenetics of ME/CFS sponsored by Solve ME/CFS Initiative