Inflammatory Marker in Post-treatment Lyme Disease vs Myalgic Encephalitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

In the May 2018 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Drs Uhde, Indart, Fallon, Wormser, Marques, Vernon, and Alaedini report on a comparison of serum samples from two disease groups – PTLD and ME/CFS – regarding the presence and intensity of a biomarker of inflammation – C-Reactive Protein.  The results from this report – showing no difference between ME/CFS patients and controls in the circulating levels of CRP or the frequency of CRP levels >3 mg/L – is in sharp contrast to the results previously reported demonstrating that patients with PTLD symptoms had a significantly higher levels of CRP than recovered controls.  This report therefore suggests that there are distinctly different inflammatory mechanisms for PTLD symptoms vs ME/CFS symptoms. Full report here.