MEA ANNOUNCES RESEARCH FUND

March 31, 2011

The U.K. ME Association (MEA) has announced that its trustees have approved funding for a new research study investigating the role of transcription factors in ME/CFS. The peer-reviewed research will be carried out by Dr. Abhijt Chaudhuri, Professor Peter Behan, Professor John Gow, Professor Chris Hillier and Simone Hutchinson at the Glasgow Caledonian University.

Transcription factors are complicated proteins that act at a cellular level and are released in a cascading fashion following harmful stimuli, such as infections, trauma, exposure to toxins etc. and form a key part of the body’s initial defensive response. They assist in the process of ‘switching on’ genes and the activities they control.

The researchers will be investigating blood samples from four separate groups:

• People with well-characterized ME/CFS: Professor Behan will be doing the clinical assessments;
• Healthy Controls;
• People from Professor Gow’s research into gene expression; and
• Blood samples obtained from the CFIDS biobank facility in the United States.

The study is expected to take a year to complete and if significant abnormality in transcription factors is confirmed, it could lead to further research and therapeutic interventions.

More information on the Ramsay Research Fund can be found at MEA: www.meassociation.org.uk/?page_id=1086