Journal of IiME Volume 8 Issue 1 Her work in ME/CFS is establishing immune profiles and helping to identify pathogens that may be linked to disease. Her work on the MIND (Microbiology and Immunology of Neuropsychiatric Disorders) Project, one of the largest studies of immune factors in mood disorders and schizophrenia, examines the role of viruses and immune responses in the pathogenesis of these disorders. #IIMEC9 Abstract: Pathogen Discovery in ME Not available at time of printing – but will be made available on Invest in ME web site. Professor Carmen Scheibenbogen Professor for Immunology and Deputy Chair, Institute of Medical Immunology, Berlin Charité, Germany Group leader of a Tumour Immunology Laboratory and Attending Physician at the Dept. of Haematology, Oncology und Transfusionsmedizin, CBF, Charité,,2/1997 Venia legendi for Internal Medicine "Habilitation",,1990 - 1998 Residency at the Med. Klinik und Poliklinik V, Hämatologie, Onkologie und Rheumatologie, Universität Heidelberg, 1988 - 1990 Postdoctoral fellowship at the Med. Klinik, Dept. of Hämatologie und, Onkologie, Universität Freiburg,1982 - 88 Medical school at the Universities of Bonn, Marburg and Denver #IIMEC9 Abstract: Role of EBV and ME/CFS Carmen Scheibenbogen, Madlen Löbel, Sandra Bauer, Agnes Mooslechner, Leif Hanitsch, Patricia Grabowski, Kirsten Wittke, Ulf Reimer, Maren Eckey, Klemens Ruprecht, Hans-Dieter Volk Institute for Medical Immunology and Neurology, Charité, and JPT Peptide Technologies, Berlin Late first Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is a frequent trigger of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). About 20% of patients have serological or PCR evidence of EBV reactivation. A deficient EBVMay 2014 specific immune response became evident in more than half of our patients when specific B cell and T cell memory responses were analysed (Löbel M. et al., Plos One, January 2014). By analysing the spectrum of EBV-specific antibodies against various proteins we observed a pattern of EBV-specific antibody responses, which could distinguish CFS from healthy controls and patients with multiple sclerosis (Ruprecht K. et al., J. Neuroimmunology, April 2014). When comparing EBV load in blood immune cells, we found more frequently low but detectable levels of EBER-DNA in CFS patients compared to healthy controls. However, no evidence of lytic EBV reactivation was observed indicating that no severe defect in T- and NK cell control of EBV exists. In line with this observation we found normal NKG2D expression on NK cells, which is important for killing of EBV-infected B cells. There is accumulating evidence that B cells are dysregulated in CFS. Many patients have alterations of immunoglobulin levels and those with diminished levels often suffer from recurrent respiratory tract infections. Both B cell depletion and high dose immunoglobulin therapy is effective in a subset of patients. Our current research focuses on the detailed characterisation of B cells and the EBVinduced regulation of B cell genes in CFS. Taken together, our findings give evidence for a deficient or dysregulated EBV-specific immune response in many CFS patients. Our data may point to an impaired ability to control early steps of EBV reactivation. Professor Simon Carding Professor of Mucosal Immunology at University of East Anglia and Institute of Food Research. Following his PhD at London he held postdoctoral positions at New York University School of Medicine, New York and at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA. He then moved to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA as Assistant and Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) www.investinme.org Page 42 of 52
43 Publizr Home