Gene expression subtypes in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a multisystem disease, the pathogenesis of which remains undetermined. We set out to determine the precise abnormalities of gene expression in the blood of patients with CFS/ME. We analyzed gene expression in peripheral blood from 25 patients with CFS/ME diagnosed according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention diagnostic criteria and 50 healthy blood donors, using a microarray with a cutoff fold difference of expression of >= 2.5. Genes showing differential expression were further analyzed in 55 patients with CFS/ME and 75 healthy blood donors, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Differential expression was confirmed for 88 genes; 85 were upregulated, and 3 were downregulated. Highly represented functions were hematological disease and function, immunological disease and function, cancer, cell death, immune response, and infection. Clustering of quantitative polymerase chain reaction data from patients with CFS/ME revealed 7 subtypes with distinct differences in Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36 scores, clinical phenotypes, and severity.