Journal of IiME Volume 8 Issue 1 and she has produced 21 peer-reviewed papers, five book chapters and one provisional patent. In 2008 Dr Marshall was joint leader of the Bond University team responsible for developing the BioSMART program. The team was awarded a prestigious Australian Teaching and Learning Council Award (formerly known as the Carrick Award) for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and for the quality of student learning over a sustained period of time. Professor Marshall-Gradisnik is also leading The National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED), a research team situated at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. The team focuses on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. #IIMEC9 Abstract: Innate and Adaptive Immune Cells in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Brenu EW1, Hardcastle SL, Huth, T, Johnston S, Nguyen, T., Ramos SB, Staines DR, MarshallGradisnik SM. National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Parklands, Queensland, Australia. Queensland Health, Gold Coast Public Health Unit, Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Immunological abnormalities are consistent in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) patients, namely reduced Natural Killer (NK) cell cytotoxic activity. However, reports on other basic immune cell parameters are inconsistent in CFS/ME, possibly related to the heterogeneity or variation in severity of the illness. The purpose of this research was to assess innate and adaptive immune cells that have not been previously examined in CFS/ME in cohorts of both moderate and severely affected patient severities. CFS/ME patients were assessed using the 1994 CDC Case Definition for CFS/ME. Health, mobility and quality of life questionnaires were used to assess all participants and also to further distinguish CFS/ME participants as either moderately or severely affected. Using flow cytometric assays, NK cells, neutrophils, monocytes, T regulatory cells (Tregs), iNKT cells, B cell phenotypes and dendritic cells (DCs) were examined each of these groups. DC, B, neutrophil and Treg phenotypes were significantly different between the CFS/ME and nonMay 2014 fatigued controls. NK cytotoxic activity was significantly reduced in CFS/ME patients compared to controls and was further reduced in severely affected patients. The severe CFS/ME patients also demonstrated significantly increased DC, B, iNKT and NK phenotypes when compared to both the moderate CFS/ME patients and healthy controls. These results have confirmed previous reports that NK cell cytotoxic activity is consistently reduced in CFS/ME. This data has further suggested that further immune cells, including DCs, B, Tregs and iNKT cells have immune perturbations related to cytotoxic activity and phenotypes in CFS/ME and this may be contributing to the overall immune profile demonstrated in this illness and other autoimmune disorder. Professor James Baraniuk Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Centre James N. Baraniuk was born in Alberta, Canada, south of Banff. He earned his honours degree in chemistry and microbiology, medical degree, and unique bachelor's degree in medicine (cardiology) at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Thereafter, he moved to Akron, OH, USA, for his internship and internal medicine residency at St Thomas Hospital. After another year of internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, he trained with Dr C.E. Buckley, III, in allergy and clinical immunology. He moved to the laboratory of Dr Michael Kaliner at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, and there began his longstanding collaboration with Dr Kimihiro Ohkubo. Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) www.investinme.org Page 44 of 52
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