Your chronic fatigue may be embedded in your genes. Scientists hope to find a cure
Chronic fatigue that doesn't go away even after rest may have genetic causes. Scientists have identified significantly more genes linked to this syndrome than previously known, offering new hope for a better understanding and treatment of the disease.
Scientists identified 259 genes associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is six times more than previously known. This discovery significantly broadens the understanding of the disease's biological roots and lays the groundwork for developing new treatments. Simultaneously, the results help better distinguish CFS from "long COVID." The research was highlighted by the Telegram channel cybulinka.
A key characteristic of chronic fatigue syndrome is post-exertional malaise, where even slight physical or mental activity causes prolonged and profound fatigue. Typically, this pathological condition develops after an infection, but only in a subset of people, which has not been explained until now.
To understand the genetic risk factors, researchers analyzed genomic data from over 10,500 people with the syndrome, collected as part of the DecodeME project, and compared them with a control sample from the UK Biobank. Instead of the traditional approach of analyzing individual genetic changes, the team focused on genetic variants called single nucleotide polymorphisms (essentially, changes of a single "letter" in the DNA sequence) and their interactions. This approach better reflects the complex biology of the disease.
As a result, 22,411 groups of single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified, composed of 7,555 individual genetic variants. The more such groups a person had, the higher the risk of developing the mentioned syndrome. Thus, the list of key genes for CFS expanded from 43 to 259, representing a significant step forward compared to previous publications.
Separately, scientists compared chronic fatigue syndrome with "long COVID." It turned out that about 42% of genes associated with the long-term consequences of COVID-19 overlap with CFS genes. This indicates that the diseases partially overlap but are not identical. In this direction, as scientists note, there is still much work to be done.
The study authors emphasize that its scale is of great importance, as previous studies with small samples yielded rather contradictory results. Now it can be confidently said that chronic fatigue syndrome is a complex, multifactorial disease with a clear genetic basis.
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