Genetic and Metabolic Markers
of BH4 Deficiency in Long COVID

ME/CFS is a debilitating illness marked by immune dysregulation affecting millions of people worldwide. Despite its prevalence, there is currently no objective and quantitative laboratory diagnostic test to diagnose ME/CFS. Current diagnostic methods rely on clinical history, physical assessments, and symptom questionnaires which often delays care and compounds patient suffering. There is a critical need for a simple, accurate, and accessible diagnostic test to improve clinical recognition, accelerate treatment, and support biomedical research.

This project aims to develop a non-invasive diagnostic test using saliva for ME/CFS by identifying and validating immune system biomarkers such as cytokines that can reliably and accurately detect ME/CFS. By focusing on a hallmark symptom of ME/CFS, post-exertional malaise (PEM), we aim to leverage a combinatorial approach for biomarker discovery, identifying unique biomarkers signatures exhibited during PEM that can discriminate between healthy individuals and patients afflicted by ME/CFS. With this approach, we hope to characterize crashes and further establish biological legitimacy. We plan to identify crash profiles in ME/CFS patients and will also assess healthy controls and Long COVID participants  to confirm specificity of the test.