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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Cara Tomas, Dr Audrey Brown, Emerita Professor Julia Newton, Dr Joanna Elson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© Copyright 2019 Tomas et al. Abnormalities in mitochondrial function have previously been shown in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients, implying that mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to the pathogenesis of disease. This study builds on previous work showing that mitochondrial respiratory parameters are impaired in whole cells from CFS patients by investigating the activity of individual mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes. Two different cell types were used in these studies in order to assess individual complex activity locally in the skeletal muscle (myotubes) (n = 6) and systemically (peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)) (control n = 6; CFS n = 13). Complex I, II and IV activity and respiratory activitysupported by fatty acid oxidation and glutaminolysis were measured usingextracellular flux analysis. Cells were permeabilised and combinations of substrates and inhibitors were added throughout the assays to allow states of mitochondrial respiration to be calculated and the activity of specific aspects of respiratory activity to be measured. Results showed there to be no significant differences in individual mitochondrial complex activity or respiratory activity supported by fatty acid oxidation or glutaminolysis between healthy control and CFS cohorts in either skeletal muscle (p ≥ 0.190) or PBMCs (p ≥ 0.065). This is the first study to use extracellular flux analysisto investigate individual mitochondrial complex activity in permeabilised cells in the context of CFS. The lack of difference in complex activity in CFS PBMCs suggests that the previously observed mitochondrial dysfunction in whole PBMCs is due to causes upstream of the mitochondrial respiratory chain.
Author(s): Tomas C, Brown AE, Newton JL, Elson JL
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: PeerJ
Year: 2019
Volume: 7
Online publication date: 01/03/2019
Acceptance date: 22/01/2019
Date deposited: 10/04/2019
ISSN (electronic): 2167-8359
Publisher: PeerJ, Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6500
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6500
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