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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical, Nursing and Public Health Management
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical, Nursing and Public Health Management

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 14422

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Donald Staines

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Menzies Health Institute—Disability and Rehabilitation, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia
Interests: immunology; chronic fatigue syndrome
Dr. Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Disability and Rehabilitation, Menzies Health Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia
Interests: immunology; chronic fatigue syndrome

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A topical collection on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome is being organized in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. For detailed information on the journal, I refer you to https://0-www-mdpi-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/journal/ijerph.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is one of the greatest public health challenges ever encountered in terms of environmental risk, public health policy, and clinical management. The illness has also highlighted the emergence of a highly disabling “Long-COVID” syndrome which has many features in common with ME/CFS, including unrelenting fatigue, memory and concentration impairment, persisting and disabling pain, and impaired muscle function. Despite improvements in individual clinical and intensive care outcomes, the Long-COVID syndrome may onset from any level of severity of the presenting illness.

ME/CFS has become an illness of increased interest due to its overlapping features with Long-COVID. Hence, this Special Issue aims to investigate developments and discoveries in ME/CFS and the impact of environmental and public health management in emerging illnesses, such as COVID-19.

Prof. Dr. Donald Staines
Prof. Dr. Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • clinical characteristics
  • diagnosis and presentation of ME/CFS
  • challenges for medical and nursing management
  • pharmacotherapeutics and potential treatments
  • advances in pathophysiology and diagnostics
  • consequences and management of severe post-viral conditions, e.g., COVID-19
  • epidemiology: incidence and prevalence investigations
  • public health policy and research
  • unmasking the evidence

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 4587 KiB  
Article
Characterization of IL-2 Stimulation and TRPM7 Pharmacomodulation in NK Cell Cytotoxicity and Channel Co-Localization with PIP2 in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients
by Stanley Du Preez, Natalie Eaton-Fitch, Helene Cabanas, Donald Staines and Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(22), 11879; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211879 - 12 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3045
Abstract
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex multisystemic disorder responsible for significant disability. Although a unifying etiology for ME/CFS is uncertain, impaired natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity represents a consistent and measurable feature of this disorder. Research utilizing patient-derived NK cells has [...] Read more.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex multisystemic disorder responsible for significant disability. Although a unifying etiology for ME/CFS is uncertain, impaired natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity represents a consistent and measurable feature of this disorder. Research utilizing patient-derived NK cells has implicated dysregulated calcium (Ca2+) signaling, dysfunction of the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2)-dependent cation channel, transient receptor potential melastatin (TRPM) 3, as well as altered surface expression patterns of TRPM3 and TRPM2 in the pathophysiology of ME/CFS. TRPM7 is a related channel that is modulated by PIP2 and participates in Ca2+ signaling. Though TRPM7 is expressed on NK cells, the role of TRPM7 with IL-2 and intracellular signaling mechanisms in the NK cells of ME/CFS patients is unknown. This study examined the effect of IL-2 stimulation and TRPM7 pharmacomodulation on NK cell cytotoxicity using flow cytometric assays as well as co-localization of TRPM7 with PIP2 and cortical actin using confocal microscopy in 17 ME/CFS patients and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The outcomes of this investigation are preliminary and indicate that crosstalk between IL-2 and TRMP7 exists. A larger sample size to confirm these findings and characterization of TRPM7 in ME/CFS using other experimental modalities are warranted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical, Nursing and Public Health Management)
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12 pages, 1237 KiB  
Article
Network Analysis of Symptoms Co-Occurrence in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
by Sławomir Kujawski, Joanna Słomko, Julia L. Newton, Natalie Eaton-Fitch, Donald R. Staines, Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik and Paweł Zalewski
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10736; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182010736 - 13 Oct 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2541
Abstract
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a heterogenous disorder of multiple disabling symptoms with complex manifestations. Network analysis is a statistical and interrogative methodology to investigate the prevalence of symptoms (nodes) and their inter-dependent (inter-nodal) relationships. In the present study, we explored the co-occurrence [...] Read more.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a heterogenous disorder of multiple disabling symptoms with complex manifestations. Network analysis is a statistical and interrogative methodology to investigate the prevalence of symptoms (nodes) and their inter-dependent (inter-nodal) relationships. In the present study, we explored the co-occurrence of symptoms in a cohort of Polish CFS patients using network analysis. A total of 110 patients with CFS were examined (75 females). The mean age of the total sample was 37.93 (8.5) years old while the mean duration of symptoms in years was 4.4 (4). Post-exertional malaise (PEM) was present in 75.45% of patients, unrefreshing sleep was noted in 89.09% and impaired memory or concentration was observed in 87.27% of patients. The least prevalent symptom was tender cervical or axillary lymph nodes, noted in 34.55% of the total sample. Three of the most densely connected nodes were the total number of symptoms, sore throat and PEM. PEM was positively related with impairment in memory or concentration. Both PEM and impairment in memory or concentration presence are related to more severe fatigue measured by CFQ and FIS. PEM presence was positively related with the presence of multi-joint pain and negatively with tender lymph nodes and muscle pain. Sore throat was related with objective and subjective autonomic nervous system impairment. This study helps define symptom presentation of CFS with the pathophysiology of specific systems and links with multidisciplinary contemporary molecular pathology, including comparative MRI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical, Nursing and Public Health Management)
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Review

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15 pages, 425 KiB  
Review
Potential Implications of Mammalian Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 7 in the Pathophysiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Review
by Stanley Du Preez, Helene Cabanas, Donald Staines and Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10708; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182010708 - 12 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3529
Abstract
The transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily of ion channels is involved in the molecular mechanisms that mediate neuroimmune interactions and activities. Recent advancements in neuroimmunology have identified a role for TRP cation channels in several neuroimmune disorders including amyotropic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, [...] Read more.
The transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily of ion channels is involved in the molecular mechanisms that mediate neuroimmune interactions and activities. Recent advancements in neuroimmunology have identified a role for TRP cation channels in several neuroimmune disorders including amyotropic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). ME/CFS is a debilitating disorder with an obscure aetiology, hence considerable examination of its pathobiology is warranted. Dysregulation of TRP melastatin (TRPM) subfamily members and calcium signalling processes are implicated in the neurological, immunological, cardiovascular, and metabolic impairments inherent in ME/CFS. In this review, we present TRPM7 as a potential candidate in the pathomechanism of ME/CFS, as TRPM7 is increasingly recognized as a key mediator of physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms affecting neurological, immunological, cardiovascular, and metabolic processes. A focused examination of the biochemistry of TRPM7, the role of this protein in the aforementioned systems, and the potential of TRPM7 as a molecular mechanism in the pathophysiology of ME/CFS will be discussed in this review. TRPM7 is a compelling candidate to examine in the pathobiology of ME/CFS as TRPM7 fulfils several key roles in multiple organ systems, and there is a paucity of literature reporting on its role in ME/CFS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical, Nursing and Public Health Management)

Other

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8 pages, 298 KiB  
Brief Report
Impact of Life Stressors on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms: An Australian Longitudinal Study
by Cassandra Balinas, Natalie Eaton-Fitch, Rebekah Maksoud, Donald Staines and Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10614; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182010614 - 11 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4269
Abstract
(1) Background: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, multifaceted illness. The pathomechanism, severity and progression of this illness is still being investigated. Stressors have been implicated in symptom exacerbation for ME/CFS, however, there is limited information for an Australian ME/CFS cohort. [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, multifaceted illness. The pathomechanism, severity and progression of this illness is still being investigated. Stressors have been implicated in symptom exacerbation for ME/CFS, however, there is limited information for an Australian ME/CFS cohort. The aim of this study was to assess the potential effect of life stressors including changes in work, income, or family scenario on symptom severity in an Australian ME/CFS cohort over five months; (2) Methods: Australian residents with ME/CFS responded to questions relating to work, income, living arrangement, access to healthcare and support services as well as symptoms experienced; (3) Results: thirty-six ME/CFS patients (age: 41.25 ± 12.14) completed all questionnaires (response rate 83.7%). Muscle pain and weakness, orthostatic intolerance and intolerance to extreme temperatures were experienced and fluctuated over time. Sleep disturbances were likely to present as severe. Work and household income were associated with worsened cognitive, gastrointestinal, body pain and sleep symptoms. Increased access to healthcare services was associated with improved symptom presentation; (4) Conclusions: life stressors such as work and financial disruptions may significantly contribute to exacerbation of ME/CFS symptoms. Access to support services correlates with lower symptom scores. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical, Nursing and Public Health Management)
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