In a study designed to test the utility of targeted metabolomics in the diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), researchers identified a unique chemical signature that differentiates affected patients from healthy individuals….

Gordon is a co-author of the study, and most of the patients in the study came from his practice.

Their study, “Metabolic features of chronic fatigue syndrome” — published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — said the discovery “opens a fresh path for the rational development of new therapeutics” for a condition that currently has no known cause, cure or even an established diagnosis.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a multisystem disease that causes long-term pain and disability. It is difficult to diagnose because of its protean symptoms and the lack of a diagnostic laboratory test. We report that targeted, broad-spectrum metabolomics of plasma not only revealed a characteristic chemical signature but also revealed an unexpected underlying biology….