"Study demonstrates that 95% of ME/CFS Patients have Anticardiolipin Antibodies, suggesting that ME/CFS may be an autoimmune condition"

A survey of the literature reports ACAs as commonserological markers in many different types of diseases,including viral diseases such as illnesses resulting fromchemical (1) and marine toxin exposure (4,5,6), HIV(7,8) and Epstein-Barr virus (9), hematological cancersincluding CLL and acute myelocytic leukemias, exposureto fungal organisms, malaria, and staphylococcusinfections (10,11), and autoimmune diseases such asmultiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmunehepatitis, and more (2). This study demonstrates that a large percentage of patients clinically diagnosed with CFS have elevated levels of the IgM isotype to CL (95%), suggesting that CFS may be an autoimmune condition.As a possible autoimmune disease, CFS patients maybe treated by suppression of the ACA or by diminishingthe antigen CL in serum. Previous studies have shownthat treatment with monoclonal antibodies to B cellsreduces ACA levels to normal in patients with autoimmunedisease, leading to clinical improvements.

Specifically, Rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal CD20antibody, has been shown to normalize high ACAserum titers of patients with autoimmune systemic lupuserythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmunethrombocytopenia, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia.Rituximab may serve as an effective therapeutic agentfor ameliorating the symptoms of CFS (11,13).

Therefore,classification of CFS as an autoimmune disordermay serve to increase the availability of treatmentoptions for patients suffering from the disease.

A study from 2009. Nice find, Dr. Speedy!