As part of our Triple Giving November campaign, we’re pleased to share a new video interview with Dr. Ron Davis and Dr. David Systrom, two of OMF’s Directors. Together, they discuss how problems with oxygen supply and energy production may underlie ME/CFS.
An Interview with Ron Davis, PhD and David Systrom, MD:
Low Oxygen, Low Energy
The Heart of the Matter
- In an interview with Dr. Ron Davis and Dr. David Systrom, two of OMF’s Directors, they talk about what they think is behind ME/CFS. These main ideas center around problems with oxygen supply and the ability to produce energy.
- They also talk about connections between their research:
- Dr. Davis has found that red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body, move more slowly in people with ME/CFS when they have less oxygen in their blood. Dr. Systrom has found that people with ME/CFS aren’t able to take oxygen out of the blood as well as healthy people. Together, this indicates that there is a problem getting oxygen to specific places in the body.
- At those specific places, both Dr. Davis and Dr. Systrom have also found evidence that the mitochondria (parts of the cell that make energy) have problems functioning. This could mean that there are issues getting oxygen to muscles, for example, and also problems using the oxygen that does get there.
An Interview with Ron Davis, PhD and David Systrom, MD:
Low Oxygen, Low Energy
Dr. Ron Davis, the Director of OMF’s Collaborative Center at Stanford University, brings expertise in genetics, diagnostic technology, and interdisciplinary research to his work on ME/CFS. In this interview, he discusses the activation of the itaconate shunt, which is a process that takes away from the main way to generate energy (ATP): the citric acid cycle. Dr. Davis’ overarching hypothesis of what’s going on in ME/CFS involves the combination of the itaconate shunt and oxidative damage.
Dr. David Systrom, the Director of OMF’s Ronald G. Tompkins Harvard ME/CFS Collaboration, brings expertise in pulmonary and critical care and dysautonomia to his research on ME/CFS. In this interview, he describes his overarching hypothesis of ME/CFS as a sequence. A trigger leads to chronic inflammation and immune system problems. Downstream of that there are oxygen supply issues to the whole body, but exercising skeletal muscle, in particular. And finally, there are issues with mitochondrial use of that oxygen.
In drawing connections between their research, Drs. Davis and Systrom talked about a few things:
- Oxygen levels and RBC velocity: Dr. Davis has found that red blood cells are slower (impaired capillary velocity) in people with ME/CFS under low oxygen levels, which connects to Dr. Systrom’s findings of oxygen supply issues. Those problems with oxygen supply could then be exacerbated by impaired oxygen extraction, yielding problems at exercising muscle and other tissues.
- Itaconate shunt and muscle mitochondria: Both Dr. Davis and Dr. Systrom have found things related to mitochondrial dysfunction in ME/CFS. Dr. Davis’ itaconate shunt hypothesis impacts how well mitochondria can produce energy. Dr. Systrom has found preliminary evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in muscle. Collectively, these findings expand on the idea that there are issues with using the oxygen supply available.
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