Olav Mella

Olav Mella is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Clinical Science at University of Bergen, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. He works with Øystein Fluge in the Norwegian Rituximab trials for the depletion of B cells lymphocyte in ME/CFS patients.

Rituximab work
Mella and Fluge's discovery was found by accident, in that 3 ME/CFS patients who had B-cell lymphoma improved remarkably following treatment with Rituximab. Not only had their lymphomas improved, but all symptoms of their ME/CFS diminished with the treatment. The positive responses were delayed for up to 6-12 weeks, despite their B cells being eliminated by the drug in 2 weeks. Since that accidental discovery, a larger study has been undertaken. Initial reports are promising in that there is a positive response in 67% of the patients receiving Rituximab vs 13% improvement in the placebo group. After the effects wore off, there was a decline in the numbers who responded to the second and subsequent infusions.

The discovery of ME/CFS patients responding positive to an autoimmunity drug has radically changed how many have viewed ME/CFS, to the point that Bjørn Guldvog, the Deputy Director General of Norwegian Directorate of Health, has apologized for the way in which ME patients in Norway have been treated: ""I think that we have not cared for people with ME to a great enough extent. I think it is correct to say that we have not established proper health care services for these people, and I regret that." The European ME Alliance believes that such a public apology from a governmental health agency has never occurred before.

Talks and Interviews

 * 2015, The Naked Scientists Podcast -"Is ME an autoimmune disease?"
 * 2015, 10th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2015 - no speech title given
 * 2014, Olav Mella speaks about the Rituximab study and ME/CFS future
 * 2012, 7th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2012 - B-cell Depletion Therapy Using Rituximab in ME/CFS - Part I
 * 2011, 6th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2011 - B-cell Depletion Therapy Using Rituximab in ME/CFS - Part I

Publications Related to ME/CFS

 * 2016, Antibodies to β adrenergic and muscarinic cholinergic receptors in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.


 * 2015, B-lymphocyte depletion in myalgic encephalopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome. An open-label phase II study with rituximab maintenance treatment. The study conculsion: "In a subgroup of ME/CFS patients, prolonged B-cell depletion with rituximab maintenance infusions was associated with sustained clinical responses. The observed patterns of delayed responses and relapse after B-cell depletion and regeneration, a three times higher disease prevalence in women than in men, and a previously demonstrated increase in B-cell lymphoma risk for elderly ME/CFS patients, suggest that ME/CFS may be a variant of an autoimmune disease."


 * 2011, Benefit from B-lymphocyte depletion using the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab in chronic fatigue syndrome. A double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Articles

 * 2015Fluge & Mella’s pre-trial study highlights life-changing potential of rituximab