Evaluation of viral infection as an etiology of ME/CFS: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Journal of Translational Medicine

Review

Eun-Jin Lim¹  Eun-Jung Lee²  Hyeon-Muk Oh³  Jin-Seok Lee³  Chang-Gue Son⁴  Jae-Hyun Hwang⁵ 

[1] Department of Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Integrative Medicine, CHA University, 335 Pangyo-Ro, Bundang-Gu, 13488, Seongnam-city, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea;Department of Korean Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Daejeon University, 176 Daedeok-Daero, Seo-Gu, 35235, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Institute of Bioscience and Integrative Medicine, Daejeon University, 62 Daehak-Ro, Dong-Gu, 34520, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Institute of Bioscience and Integrative Medicine, Daejeon University, 62 Daehak-Ro, Dong-Gu, 34520, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Research Center for CFS/ME, Daejeon Oriental Hospital of Daejeon University, 176 Daedeok-Daero, Seo-Gu, 35235, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;Korean Medical College of Daejeon University, 62, Daehak-Ro, Dong-Gu, 34520, Daejeon, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Myalgic encephalitis (ME);    Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS);    Viral infection;    Meta-analysis;    Odds ratio;    Etiopathogenesis;    Disease causation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12967-023-04635-0

 received in 2023-07-06, accepted in 2023-10-16,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMyalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a long-term disabling illness without a medically explained cause. Recently during COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have confirmed the symptoms similar to ME/CFS in the recovered individuals. To investigate the virus-related etiopathogenesis of ME/CFS, we conducted a systematic assessment of viral infection frequency in ME/CFS patients.MethodsWe conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed and the Cochrane Library from their inception through December 31, 2022, using selection criteria of viral infection prevalence in ME/CFS patients and controls. Subsequently, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the extent of viral infections' contribution to ME/CFS by comparing the odds ratio between ME/CFS patients and controls (healthy and/or diseased).ResultsFinally, 64 studies met our eligibility criteria regarding 18 species of viruses, including a total of 4971 ME/CFS patients and 9221 control subjects. The participants included healthy subjects and individuals with one of 10 diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or fibromyalgia. Two DNA viruses (human herpes virus (HHV)-7 and parvovirus B19, including their co-infection) and 3 RNA viruses (borna disease virus (BDV), enterovirus and coxsackie B virus) showed odds ratios greater than 2.0 compared with healthy and/or diseased subjects. Specifically, BDV exceeded the cutoff with an odds ratio of ≥ 3.47 (indicating a "moderate association" by Cohen’s d test) compared to both healthy and diseased controls.ConclusionThis study comprehensively evaluated the risk of viral infections associated with ME/CFS, and identified BDV. These results provide valuable reference data for future studies investigating the role of viruses in the causation of ME/CFS.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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