Herpes Simplex Encephalopathy
and the Development of ME / CFS

STUDY HYPOTHESIS AND DESCRIPTION

The further understanding of the post-viral fatigue phenomenon that many HSE patients present with could give new insights in the initial episode of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) since very many of the patients (70-80%) reports on an initial infection (eg mononucleosis) in the onset of the disease.

Our findings could give predictive evidence of long-term neurocognitive outcome in HSE, and suggest a causative chain of events where brain tissue damage increases the risk of subsequent prolongation of CSF inflammation and post-viral fatigue. The data could provide guidance for a future intervention study of immunosuppressive therapy administered in the recovery phase of HSE and other viral infections with neurological sequelae.

OBJECTIVES

• Analyze cerebrospinal fluid for biomarkers of brain injury, inflammation and synaptic damage using proteomics.
• Conduct metabolic profiling of plasma concentration.
• Correlate CSF biomarkers and MDRS followed by evaluation of post-viral fatigue and ME/CFS
• Conduct a merged multi-omics evaluation of the data including both proteomic and metabolomic data and the correlation between the two.