Tiki Vansteenwinckel

#mecfs Great PhD research by @aryback.bsky.social. Thank you, Audrey!

Adaptogens in Long-Lasting Brain Fatigue: An Insight from Systems Biology and Network Pharmacology Long-lasting brain fatigue is a consequence of stroke or traumatic brain injury associated with emotional, psychological, and physical overload, distress in hypertension, atherosclerosis, viral infect...

#Adaptogens in Long-Lasting Brain Fatigue: An Insight from Systems Biology and Network Pharmacology
#Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) and #ArcticRoot (Rhodiola rosea). www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/18... #brainfatigue

Abstract Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex disorder with no known underlying mechanisms, diagnostic tools, or treatments. Multiple areas of dysfunction have been extensively studied, but rarely examined together. We recruited age- and sex-matched ME/CFS patients and healthy controls for a multi-modal study examining energy metabolism, immune profiles and plasma protein levels. Elevated levels of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) were detected in both plasma and immune cells. Additionally, immune cells showed higher levels of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a reduced adenosine triphosphate/adenosine diphosphate (ATP/ADP) ratio. These findings imply decreased ATP generation and the presence of energy stress within the immune cell population. Adaptive immune cell populations were skewed towards less mature effector subsets of CD4+, CD8+ and gd T cells, and proportions of CD1c+CD141-conventional DC type 2 (cDC2) and CD56lowCD16+ terminal natural killer (NK) cells were also reduced. Elevated levels of plasma proteins associated with thrombus formation and vascular reactivity may contribute to the endothelial dysfunction observed in ME/CFS patients. Using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) modelling, we identified variables from each mode of investigation with strong predictive potential for ME/CFS. Together, this study provides new insights into the somatic symptoms and underlying biology of ME/CFS.

From Australia:

Mapping the Complexity of ME/CFS: Evidence for Abnormal Energy Metabolism, Altered Immune Profile & Vascular Dysfunction

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

"These findings imply decreased ATP generation & the presence of energy stress within the immune cell population"

#MEcfs #CFS

Dank voor het artikel! @filiplardon.bsky.social

De academische gemeenschap moet tonen waar zij voor staat: objectieve feiten en ethische integriteit zonder politieke inmenging Piet Hoebeke is decaan van de faculteit geneeskunde en gezondheidswetenschappen aan de Universiteit Gent, samen met decanen van VUB, UA, UHasselt en KU Leuven. Hij houdt een pleidooi om de wetenschapp...

Pleidooi van Piet Hoebeke @hoebekepiet.bsky.social en collega's voor vrijwaren wetenschappelijke vrijheid en integriteit

Happy 1-year anniversary today @bsky.app!

The Microplastic Concerns Elevate—To the Brain A new study shows accumulation in the brain, much higher in people with dementia, and 7-30 times greater than other organs (liver and kidney).

The Microplastic Concerns Elevate—To the Brain open.substack.com/pub/erictopo...
#MNPs

Omega-3 fatty acids had a small protective effect of slowing biological aging (via multiple epigenetic clocks, Figure) nature.com/articles/s43...

Exercise and Vit D were also assessed with some additive benefits but not significant on their own

Persistent symptoms and clinical findings in adults with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19/post-COVID-19 syndrome in the second year after acute infection: A population-based, nested case-control study In a population-based case-control study, Raphael Peter and colleagues investigate the clinical characteristics and diagnostic findings in patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome.

"..majority of working age patients with PCS did not recover in the second year of their illness. Patterns of reported symptoms remained essentially similar, non-specific and dominated by fatigue, exercise intolerance and cognitive complaints..." #LongCovid
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

When Journal, Scientific Society, and Community Values Clash - Absolutely Maybe A process I’ve been involved with at a journal recently exploded. It was meant to resolve a controversy about a publication, not…

I never thought a day would come when I would write a post this critical about the Cochrane Collaboration. But today was that day:

absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/01/24/w...

#mecfs

When Journal, Scientific Society, and Community Values Clash - Absolutely Maybe A process I’ve been involved with at a journal recently exploded. It was meant to resolve a controversy about a publication, not…

6) Hilda Bastian, leader of the IAG, has also published a blog laying out the history of the project and the implications for Cochrane:
absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/01/24/w...

Independent Advisory Group Open Letter to Cochrane Today, the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) sent the letter below to the Chair of the Cochrane Collaboration’s Governing Board, as well as members of the Governing Board, the Executive Leader…

5) The Independent Advisory Group have now published an open letter to Cochrane:
hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/i...

1) Good to see an article by Retraction Watch on the problematic Cochrane review on exercise therapy for ME/CFS.

Quote from the letter:

"We express our dismay and concern at the rejection of our formal advice in 2024 to append an editorial note to the current version of the review stating that it is out of date and should not be used for clinical decision-making, as Cochrane has done for other reviews."

Tuurlijk mag je dat. Je inzetten om mensenlevens te redden wordt nu gevaarlijk in de US! Walgelijk.

Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the supernova explosion that created this remnant would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light 11,000 years to reach us. This sharp NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the still hot filaments and knots in the supernova remnant. The whitish, smoke-like outer shell of the expanding blast wave is about 20 light-years across. A series of light echoes from the massive star's cataclysmic explosion are also identified in Webb's detailed images of the surrounding interstellar medium.

🔭 Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University of Gent)

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25011...

#Contaminants #FoodSafety #Metals
#arsenic #nickel #cadmium #lead #mercury #chromiumVI #uranium

Perchlorate in food: draft scientific opinion for public consultation EFSA is launching a public consultation on its draft scientific opinion concerning the public health risks associated with perchlorate in food.

🆕 Draft scientific opinion on public health risks linked to #perchlorate in food.

This re-evaluation takes into account new data and updated methodologies since the 2014 assessment.

🗣️ A public consultation is open for input until 11 Feb 2025.

europa.eu/!ftpBhp

#FoodSafety #Contaminants

A splashy new episode of our podcast 'Science on the Menu' is here 🌊

We’re exploring new uses of our oceans. How will new trade routes, sea mining and ocean aquaculture affect the safety of our food?

Tune in to learn more → europa.eu/!B7WgBm

#podcast #science

#cartoon #gaza #genocide (via www.lectrr.com)

1) There is some (cautious) excitement about this new ME/CFS paper that will soon be published.

It replicated abnormalities in B-cells that were found by 2 earlier studies, namely an increase in Immunoglobulin Heavy Variable IGHV3-30.

Scientists discover how viral infection triggers autoimmune disease Scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have discovered how a viral infection causes autoimmune disease, disproving a long-standing theory and opening a promising new approach to develo...

'Scientists discover how viral infection triggers autoimmune disease'

'The Garvan team revealed that this is not the case – rather, the critical trigger is mutations in 'rogue clone' B cells'

www.news-medical.net/news/2025011...

Serial Paediatrics Omics Tracking in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (SPOT-ME): protocol paper for a multidisciplinary, observational study of clinical and biological markers of paediatric myalgic encephalo... Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling condition that can affect adolescents during a vulnerable period of development. The underlying biological mechanisms for ME/...

Glad to see this study protocol from Chris Armstong's group: Serial Paediatrics Omics Tracking in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (SPOT-ME) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
#mecfs #adolescents

Screenshot of abstract

New US research

Incidence & Prevalence of Post‑COVID‑19 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis:A Report from the Observational
RECOVER‑Adult Study

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

"ME/CFS is a diagnosable sequela that develops at an increased rate following SARS-CoV-2 infection"

#MEcfs #LongCovid

Taliban 'do not see women as human', says Malala in Pakistan Malala Yousafzai urges Muslim leaders to challenge policies restricting girls and women's schooling.

Taliban 'do not see women as human', says Malala Yousafzai
www.bbc.com/news/article...
#girlseducation

The cover image portrays a human composed of proteins who is examining their health status (represented by the ECG monitoring interface) with the assistance of artificial intelligence (represented by the chip and binary codes).

Something you don't see every day!
Digitizing the human proteome in >53,000 individuals with 15-year follow-up and, with machine learning, unraveling nearly 500 disease-causing proteins
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
open-access

1050 mg/day in #mecfs is an extremely high dose. Trying to intervene on the ETC should be done cautiously in hypersensitive ME/cfs patients. Moreover, high intake of some antioxidants may have pro-oxidative effects.

The ban on Bisphenol A/BPA in food contact materials in the EU ec.europa.eu/newsroom/san...