Succesful crowdfunding campaign to suport IrsiCaixa research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• The Associació de Sanitaris al Servei de l’Encefalomielitis Miàlgica/Síndrome de Fatiga Crònica (ASSSEM) has raised more than 29.000 euros that will fund an IrsiCaixa research project on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (EM/CFS).
• Today, representatives of ASSSEM and IrsiCaixa, jointly funded  by “la Caixa” Foundation and the Government of Catalonia, have gathered together to celebrate the end of the crowdfunding campaign and give details on the project execution.
• The objective of the study is to establish new tools for diagnosing, as well as better understanding the causes of ME/CFS and possible therapeutic directions. 
• This project gives continuity to the study published last year by the same researchers, which proves that there are 8 molecular alterations in people with ME/CFS which seem to be related to a abnormal function of the immune system.

A crowdfunding campaign to suport IrsiCaixa research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) has achieved its objective. The Associació de Sanitaris al Servei de l’Encefalomielitis Miàlgica/Síndrome de Fatiga Crònica (ASSSEM), the organization leader of the campaign, has raised more than 29.000 euros needed to develop the project.

This amount has been raised thanks to the donations through the Verkami crowdfunding platform. During 40 days, this platform received the majority of the donations. As well, some individuals and organizations have gave direct donations to both ASSSEM and IrsiCaixa, who will keep on accepting donations to support this project (more information).

Today, representatives of ASSSEM and IrsiCaixa have gathered together to celebrate the end of the crowdfunding campaign and give details on the project execution. Bonaventura Clotet (in the centre of the picture), the director of IrsiCaixa, has greatly appreciated the support of ASSSEM to “impulse IrsiCaixa research and advance jointly in the field of the research into the relation of EM/CFS and the immune system”. José Luis Rivas (at the picture on the right), the president of ASSSEM, has highlighted the importance to join forces with an institut of international reference in the field of the research of the immune system such as IrsiCaixa. Julià Blanco (at the picture on the left), head of the IrsiCaixa team that will execute the project, has explained how essential is to understand the role of the immune system in the EM/CFS. “This is a good exemple of collaboration between researchers and the community, in difficult times to raise funds for research”. 

Establishing new tools for diagnosing 

“Characterization of the T regulating cells in patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” is the name of the project . Its objective is to establish new tools for diagnosing, as well as understanding better the causes of ME/CFS and possible therapeutic directions. This project gives continuity to the study published last year by the same researchers which proves that there are 8 molecular alterations in people with ME/CFS which seem to be related to a faulty functioning of the immune system, in both T-cells and NK-cells, the cells responsible for coordinating immune response and destroying malignant cells, respectively.

The relationship between CFS and the immune system

Since the early 90s, one of the lines of research related to CFS has focused on studying how the disease is related to the weakening of the immune system. The importance of this line of research lies in the fact that the onset of CFS symptoms coincides with viral infections in many patients, and in a greater sensitivity to certain infections, all of which suggests an immune system dysfunction.

IrsiCaixa was interested in the relationship between CFS and different viral infections. The investigators focused on viral and immunological markers in CFS patients. As it was impossible to establish a reliable relationship with viral infections, and as there is no molecular diagnostic tool to characterisecharacterize CFS patients, they decided to analyseanalyze and compare more than 100 features of the immune system of CFS sufferers and healthy people.

"The relationship between CFS and the immune system is fundamental for progressing in the complete description of the clinical symptoms of people with CFS", said Julià Blanco, "but we also have to study the role of the neurological, cardiovascular and endocrine systems, which are also affected by the disease. These different aspects may have a common origin, which remains unknown", he concluded.

May 12th is the international ME/CFS & FM Awareness Day. In Spain, one out of one thousand people is affected by these syndromes.

More information about the Verkami crowdfunding campaign: Researching new tools for diagnosing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

IrsiCaixa research on ME/CFS: 8 molecules are identified that could improve the diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome