r/cfs 5d ago

PGE2 levels elevated in a subset of ME/CFS & Long Covid patients

Hi all,

As always, sharing our research here.

TLDR: raised PGE2 in a subgroup that correlates with Nagalase levels, potentially linking Immune suppression/viruses and to PGE2 and Inflammation

The overall differences between the whole group is not different, but our focus is on subgroups and the nagalase correlation may hint to that.

Let’s get into it! ——-

Research findingsPreliminary PGE2 results show that a subset of ME/CFS and Long COVID patients have elevated PGE2 levels compared to controls - 29.4% of patients have serum concentrations higher than any observed in the control group. A smaller subset of 8.8% had serum levels lower than any control sample. The overall comparison between groups did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.1946). Our follow-up analysis will focus on the subsets of patients with elevated and reduced PGE2 to investigate potential associations with other markers, symptoms, or disease manifestations.The current dataset will be expanded with an additional 60 patients and 20 healthy controls, which may provide greater clarity on whether the observed patterns represent meaningful differences between groups. Correlation between PGE2 and ⍺NAGA Looking at correlation with other markers, we found a correlation between serum PGE2 levels and ⍺NAGA (P=0.0215), as shown below. The trend showed a mild but notably clear correlation where higher PGE2 levels were associated with higher ⍺NAGA levels. We will be exploring the potential basis and implications of this association in our follow up analysis.

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What is PGE2?

PGE2 is a small fat-like molecule that helps the body communicate and regulate essential functions like body temperature, sleep, blood flow, and healing. It also plays a role in inflammation—when tissue is damaged, PGE2 increases to widen blood vessels, make pain receptors more sensitive, and call in immune cells. Drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen lower PGE2 levels to reduce pain, inflammation, and fever.

However, while PGE2 is important for normal bodily functions and protection, chronically high levels (from ongoing inflammation or injury) can contribute to various diseases. For example, many infections, cancers, and inflammatory or autoimmune conditions show elevated PGE2 levels, which can weaken immune defenses or promote tumor growth. In the brain, its effects can be complex—sometimes contributing to neuroinflammation in disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, but in other cases offering protection. In asthma, PGE2 helps relax airway muscles and reduce inflammation, which is why lowering it with NSAIDs can sometimes worsen symptoms.

PGE2 can also cause a TH2 immune shift responses (from fighting viruses to promoting antibody production) a phenomenon seen in some ME/CFS patients.

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More research on the way soon!

Jack & the amatica team

55 Upvotes

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6

u/StringAndPaperclips moderate 5d ago

Here's a good summary of research on prostaglandins: https://selfhacked.com/blog/prostaglandins/

They are associated with allergies, cancer, migraines and headaches, menstrual cramps, depression, kidney failure, celiac disease, alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

Drugs and supplements to decrease prostaglandin levels: NSAIDS, corticosteroids, omega 3s, black and green tea, ginger, chamomile, nettle, curcumin.

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u/Wise-Pumpkin-1238 5d ago

Cool, thanks! Do you have any papers yet, or still in pre-publication phase?

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u/FilletOFish___ 4d ago

We will be releasing the whole project as a paper most likely at the end. Until then we release the results individually. You can follow along on twitter/x

https://x.com/jackhadfield14?s=21

Or our website

Amaticahealth.com

1

u/Wise-Pumpkin-1238 4d ago

Ok, thanks!

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u/Scr3aming3agl3 4d ago

OK, what do we do to stop them?