PRESENTERS at the 7tthh Dr Ian Gibson INVEST in ME INTERNATIONAL ME/CFS CONFERENCE Dr Ian Gibson, former Labour MP for Norwich North, worked at UEA for 32 years, became dean of the school of biological sciences in 1991 and was head of a cancer research team and set up the Francesca Gunn Leukaemia Laboratory at UEA. In 2011 Dr Gibson received an honorary doctorate of civil law from UEA. Dr Gibson will chair the conference this year. Professor Don R Staines New Directions for ME/CFS Research Don Staines is a public health physician at Gold Coast Population Health Unit. He has worked in health services management and public health practice in Australia and overseas. His interests include collaborative health initiatives with other countries as well as cross-disciplinary initiatives within health. Communicable diseases as well as post infectious fatigue syndromes are his main research interests. A keen supporter of the Griffith University Medical School, he enjoys teaching and other opportunities to promote awareness of public health in the medical curriculum. Abstract Autoimmunity as a plausible hypothesis in the aetiology of ME/CFS has been explored by our research group in Australia since 2004. Recent clinical data from Norway support an autoimmunity hypothesis with benefit from antiCD20 monoclonal antibody demonstrated in a Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) clinical trial. Autoimmunity remains a challenging area for research with complex interactions between innate and acquired immune system responses. Identification of a putative target for autoimmune attack in ME/CFS remains elusive. Hence a Clinical Autoimmunity Working Group (CAWG) was established to bring autoimmunity and neuroscience specialists together to consider recent clinical data and consider future directions in this research area. Topics discussed included autoimmunity pathomechanisms and presentations, identification of autoimmune targets, laboratory models including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), vascular changes in the central nervous system, advances in vasoactive neuropeptide (VN) research and novel biomarkers assisting the diagnosis of ME/CFS. Recent developments in purinergic signalling and neurological models of autoimmunity including reactive gliosis, and pathomechanisms involving VNs may contribute to the understanding of CFS/ME. ATP, NO and VIP are now recognised as co-transmitters and may be involved in these pathomechanisms. Moreover gliosis is invariably associated with brain insult and may be a feature of ‘virtual’ oxygen glucose deprivation likely to occur from VN failure. The neurovascular unit (NVU) has a vital role in cerebral vasculature and immune competency and these functions might be lost in VN compromise. Effects would be expected to be more severe in the CNS where blood brain barrier (BBB) and blood spinal barrier (BSB) function could be compromised by the activation of purinergic receptors and initiation of inflammatory mechanisms. Other organs systems including heart, gut and lung may also be compromised through these pathomechanisms which may in part explain the prolonged and difficult course of CFS/ME. New techniques for investigating BBB and BSB function are being developed and may have applications in this condition. Therapeutic opportunities may arise through renewed understanding of immunological and neuroinflammatory mechanisms involved in ME/CFS. www.investinme.org Page 99 of 108
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