In 2023, the ME Association and ME Research UK awarded an initial grant to Dr Fatima Labeed and Professor Michael Hughes from the Centre for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Surrey, and Dr Eliana Lacerda and Caroline Kingdon, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the UK ME/CFS Biobank (UKMEB).
The study was to test for significant differences between the electrical properties in blood (PBMC’s) from people with ME/CFS compared to controls (people who are otherwise healthy and people with multiple sclerosis) using samples from the UKMEB. The results were very informative and confirmed earlier findings.
In 2025, the team applied for and received funding for Phase II which will allow them to check their results against more samples from people with ME/CFS, and from people with Long Covid (who meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS), as well as determining why these changes might occur. They will also see if there is a similar difference in cell properties from people who have received Low Dose Naltrexone, which might offer potential as a treatment. The team recently received a 12-month no-cost extension, and Phase II will now complete on 31 July 2027.
You can read about Phase II funding here, and in the article below that has now been published by ME Research UK
Breakthrough Magazine Article
Lead researchers: Dr Fatima Labeed and Dr Jackie Cliff, Brunel University of London
Background
There is currently no widely available, accurate diagnostic marker for ME/CFS. However, growing evidence suggests that the electrical characteristics of white blood cells could form the basis of a low-cost, reliable diagnostic test for the disease.
In 2019, Prof. Ron Davis and his team developed a nanoelectronics test that found a difference in the impedance of white blood cells taken from people with ME/CFS compared with those from control subjects.
In 2023, this work was continued by Prof. Robert Dorey, Dr Fatima Labeed, Krista Clarke and colleagues at the University of Surrey, in a study jointly funded by ME Research UK and the ME Association.
White blood cells from people with ME/CFS, people with multiple sclerosis and healthy volunteers were put into a salty solution for one-and-a half hours. The change in the electrical properties of these cells after the salt treatment was significantly different in the ME/CFS samples compared with the other groups, supporting their potential as a diagnostic tool.
Two biomarkers showed potential for distinguishing ME/CFS patients from other groups: cytoplasm conductivity and zeta potential. Very simply put, cytoplasm conductivity is an indicator of how easily electrical current can flow within a cell, while zeta potential is related to the electrical force needed to move a charge across the cell membrane.
Objectives
This new study (also jointly funded by ME Research UK and the ME Association) moves the research to Brunel University of London but still involves some core members of the original team. The researchers plan to refine and expand the initial work, to give deeper insights into the biology of ME/CFS, and to move us closer to a reliable and low-cost diagnostic test.
They aim to:
- test a larger, more diverse group of patients
- improve how samples are prepared and tested to make the results more accurate and easier to obtain
- compare blood cells from people with ME/CFS, those with Long Covid, those with multiple sclerosis and healthy volunteers
- explore how ion channels and plasma ions affect these differences, and test the effects of low dose naltrexone treatment.
The researchers will use frozen blood samples from the UK ME/CFS Biobank at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, collected from people with ME/CFS (including some with Long Covid), people with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls. Fresh samples will also be collected from people with ME/CFS. Additional analyses will compare samples from people with ME/CFS post-COVID collected at baseline and after treatment with low-dose naltrexone, to assess any impact of this treatment
Potential Benefits
The team hopes this work will bring us closer to a low-cost diagnostic biomarker for ME/CFS, “allowing reliable identification of the disease at an early stage”.
Optimising the methodology will mean testing more samples more efficiently, allowing even larger trials in the future to assess sensitivity and specificity .
The research will also look at the reasons behind the electrical changes seen, advancing our understanding of the underlying biology of ME/CFS.
Further Information
- The ME Association and ME Research UK announce funding for a study that aims to create a diagnostic test for ME/CFS | Oct 2023
- Research: The search for a blood-based biomarker for ME/CFS: from biochemistry to electrophysiology | February 5, 2025
- Professor Robert Dorey and colleagues update on investigating the electrical properties of blood from people with ME/CFS | July 2, 2024
- MEA and MERUK Research: Explaining Electrophysiological Properties of Cells in Health and Disease | August 15, 2024
- Doctoral Thesis: Characterising the Electrophysiological Properties of Cells in Health and Disease | July 2, 2025
- Research: Second-Phase Funding to Advance the Development of a Diagnostic Test for ME/CFS | September 10, 2025