Carmen Scheibenbogen

Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin | Charité · Institute of Medical Immunology

Purpose Humoral and cellular immune responses were described after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with common variable immunodeficiency disorder (CVID). This study aimed to investigate SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody quality and memory function of B cell immunity as well as T cell responses after COVID-19 vaccination in seroresponding and non-respon...

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are involved in various physiological and pathophysiological processes. Functional autoantibodies targeting GPCRs have been associated with multiple disease manifestations in this context. Here we summarize and discuss the relevant findings and concepts presented in the biennial International Meeting on autoantibo...

Background: Post-COVID syndrome is a severe long-term complication of COVID-19. Although fatigue and cognitive complaints are the most prominent symptoms, it is unclear whether they have structural correlates in the brain. We therefore explored the clinical characteristics of post-COVID fatigue, describe associated structural imaging changes, and...

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic not only resulted in millions of acute infections worldwide, but also caused innumerable cases of post-infectious syndromes, colloquially referred to as long COVID. Due to the heterogeneous nature of symptoms and scarcity of available tissue samples, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. We present an in-depth ana...

The SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with increased levels of autoantibodies targeting immunological proteins such as cytokines and chemokines. Reports further indicate that COVID-19 patients may develop a broad spectrum of autoimmune diseases due to reasons not fully understood. Even so, the landscape of autoantibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 infe...

Objective Inflammatory cardiomyopathy is characterised by inflammatory infiltrates leading to cardiac injury, left ventricular (LV) dilatation and reduced LV ejection fraction (LVEF). Several viral pathogens and autoimmune phenomena may cause cardiac inflammation. The effects of the gain of function FOXO3A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs122...

Purpose: Humoral and cellular immune responses were described after COVID-19 vaccination in patients with common variable immunodeficiency disorder (CVID). This study aimed to investigate SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody quality and memory function of B cell immunity as well as T cell responses after COVID-19 vaccination in seroresponding and non-respo...

Background Muscle fatigue and pain are key symptoms of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Although the pathophysiology is not yet fully understood, there is ample evidence for hypoperfusion which may result in electrolyte imbalance and sodium overload in muscles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess levels of sod...

Zusammenfassung Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie hat 2021 die AWMF S1-Leitlinie Long-/Post-COVID initiiert. In einem breiten interdisziplinären Ansatz wurde diese S1-Leitlinie basierend auf dem aktuellen Wissensstand gestaltet. Die klinische Empfehlung beschreibt die aktuellen Long- bzw. Post-COVID-Symptome, diagnostische Ansätze und Thera...

The role of autoimmunity in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is not well explored, although clinicians observe a growing population of convalescent COVID-19 patients with manifestation of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. We analyzed the immune response in 40 post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 patients with non-specific PASC manifestation and 15...

Das Chronische Fatigue-Syndrom (ME/CFS) ist eine schwere Erkrankung mit vermutlich neuroimmunologischer Genese, die oft zu einem hohen Grad körperlicher Behinderung und eingeschränkter psychosozialer Teilhabe führt. ME/CFS ist ein eigenständiges, komplexes Krankheitsbild und nicht mit dem Symptom Fatigue zu verwechseln oder als psychosomatische Erk...

Most patients with Post COVID Syndrome (PCS) present with a plethora of symptoms without clear evidence of organ dysfunction. A subset of them fulfills diagnostic criteria of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Symptom severity of ME/CFS correlates with natural regulatory autoantibody (AAB) levels targeting several G-protei...

A subset of patients has long-lasting symptoms after mild to moderate Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In a prospective observational cohort study, we analyze clinical and laboratory parameters in 42 post-COVID-19 syndrome patients (29 female/13 male, median age 36.5 years) with persistent moderate to severe fatigue and exertion intolerance six...

A proportion of COVID-19 reconvalescent patients develop post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) including a subgroup fulfilling diagnostic criteria of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (PCS/CFS). Recently, endothelial dysfunction (ED) has been demonstrated in these patients, but the mechanisms remain elusive. Therefore, we investigated the e...

Background: Post-COVID syndrome (PCS) is an important sequela of COVID-19, characterised by symptom persistence for >3 months, post-acute symptom development, and worsening of pre-existing comorbidities. The causes and public health impact of PCS are still unclear, not least for the lack of efficient means to assess the presence and severity of PC...

Background: A sizable part of post-COVID syndrome meets the diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). A doubling of cases of ME/CFS within the next years is therefore projected. Objectives: Presentation of the current state of knowledge on ME/CFS. Materials and methods: Unsystematic review of the lite...

Infections by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are often at the disease onset of patients suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). However, serological analyses of these infections remain inconclusive when comparing patients with healthy controls (HCs). In particular, it is unclear if certain EBV-derived antigens elic...

Infections by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are often at the disease onset of patients suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). However, serological analyses of these infections remain inconclusive when comparing patients with healthy controls. In particular, it is unclear if certain EBV-derived antigens eliciting...

Background: Myocarditis can be associated with severe heart failure and is caused by different inflammatory and autoimmune responses. The aim of this study was to describe the immunological response in children with myocarditis by analyzing anti-beta-adrenergic receptor antibodies (anti-β-AR Abs). Methods: Sera of children who were hospitalized...

Background Fatigue, exertion intolerance and post-exertional malaise are among the most frequent symptoms of Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS), with a subset of patients fulfilling criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). As SARS-CoV-2 infects endothelial cells, causing endotheliitis and damaging the endothelium, we investi...

Dyspnea, shortness of breath, and chest pain are frequent symptoms of post-COVID syndrome (PCS). These symptoms are unrelated to organ damage in most patients after mild acute COVID infection. Hyperventilation has been identified as a cause of exercise-induced dyspnea in PCS. Since there is a broad overlap in symptomatology with myalgic encephalomy...

COVID-19 shares the feature of autoantibody production with systemic autoimmune diseases. In order to understand the role of these immune globulins in the pathogenesis of the disease, it is important to explore the autoantibody spectra. Here we show, by a cross-sectional study of 246 individuals, that autoantibodies targeting G protein-coupled rece...

Morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 is increased in patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). Age and comorbidities and also impaired type I interferon immunity were identified as relevant risk factors. In patients with primary antibody deficiency (PAD) and lack of specific humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2, clinical disease outcome is ver...

Two errors were noticed after publication of the original article [1]: 1. Carmen Scheibenbogen should also be a corresponding author 2. 4 references and their citations were missing [2–5] in the Decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) section. The original article has been updated to correct these errors.

There is accumulating evidence of endothelial dysfunction, muscle and cerebral hypoperfusion in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). In this paper we deduce the pathomechanisms resulting in central nervous pathology and the myriad of neurocognitive symptoms. We outline tentative mechanisms of impaired cerebral blood flow, in...

Zusammenfassung Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie hat die AWMFS1-Leitlinie Post-COVID/Long-COVID initiiert. In einem breiten interdisziplinären Ansatz wurde diese S1-Leitlinie basierend auf dem aktuellen Wissensstand gestaltet. Die klinische Empfehlung beschreibt die aktuellen Post-COVID/Long-COVID-Symptome, diagnostische Ansätze und Therap...

Introduction High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) represents a standard treatment regime for multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Common and potentially fatal side effects after auto-HSCT are infections due to a severely compromised immune system with hampered humoral and cellular immunity. Th...

Background: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is an acquired complex disease with patients suffering from the cardinal symptoms of fatigue, post-exertional malaise (PEM), cognitive impairment, pain and autonomous dysfunction. ME/CFS is triggered by an infection in the majority of patients. Initial evidence for a potential...

People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) often report a high frequency of viral infections and flu-like symptoms during their disease course. Since this reporting is in line with different immunological abnormalities and altered gene expression profiles observed in the disease, we aimed to explore whether the expressi...

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic disease with the hallmark symptom of post-exertional malaise. Evidence for physiological causes is converging, however, currently no diagnostic test or biomarker is available. People with ME/CFS experience stigmatization, including the perception that the disease is psychosoma...

The evidence of an association between Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and chronic herpesviruses infections remains inconclusive. Two reasons for the lack of consistent evidence are the large heterogeneity of the patients' population with different disease triggers and the use of arbitrary cutoffs for defining seropositi...

Despite RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19, specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 spike are undetectable in serum in approximately 10% of convalescent patients after mild disease course. This raises the question of induction and persistence of SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells in these convalescent individuals. Using flow cytometry, we assessed specific SARS-CoV-2 an...

Background and Objective: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a severe illness with the hallmark symptom of Post‐Exertional Malaise (PEM). Currently, no biomarkers or established diagnostic tests for ME/CFS exist. In Germany, it is estimated that over 300,000 people are affected by ME/CFS. Research from the United States...

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex disease frequently triggered by infections. IgG substitution may have therapeutic effect both by ameliorating susceptibility to infections and due to immunomodulatory effects. Methods: We conducted a proof of concept open trial with s.c. IgG in 17 ME/CFS patients suffering from recurrent...

Designed by a group of ME/CFS researchers and health professionals, the European Network on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (EUROMENE) has received funding from the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)—COST action 15111—from 2016 to 2020. The main goal of the Cost Action was to assess the existing knowledge and e...

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephaloymelitis (ME/CFS) is a frequent debilitating disease with an enigmatic etiology. The finding of autoantibodies against ß2-adrenergic receptors (ß2AdR) prompted us to hypothesize that ß2AdR dysfunction is of critical importance in the pathophysiology of ME/CFS. Our hypothesis published previously consider...

Forkhead box O 3 (FOXO3) is a transcription factor involved in cell metabolism, inflammation and longevity. Here, we investigated if metformin can activate FOXO3 in human immune cells and affects the subsequent level of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) in immune cells. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and FOXO3 activation were investig...

Background Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex and debilitating disease accompanied by muscular fatigue and pain. A functional measure to assess muscle fatigability of ME/CFS patients is, however, not established in clinical routine. The aim of this study is to evaluate by assessing repeat maximum handgrip stren...

Soluble cluster of differentiation 26 (sCD26) has a wide range of enzymatic functions affecting immunological, metabolic and vascular regulation. Diminished sCD26 concentrations have been reported in various autoimmune diseases and also in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Here we re-evaluate sCD26 as a diagnostic marker...

A subset of patients has long-lasting symptoms after mild to moderate COVID-19. In a prospective observational cohort study we analysed clinical and laboratory parameters in 42 patients (29 female/13 male, median age 36.5 years) with persistent moderate to severe fatigue and exertion intolerance six months following COVID-19 referred to as Chronic...

Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) show specific epigenetic and gene expression signatures of the disease. However, it is unknown whether these signatures in ME/CFS include abnormal levels of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme ACE and ACE2, the latter being the main receptor described for host-cell invasi...

Objective: Characterization of the clinical features of patients with persistent symptoms after mild to moderate COVID-19 infection and exploration of factors associated with the development of Chronic COVID-19 Syndrome (CCS). Methods: Setting: Charite Fatigue Center with clinical immunologists and rheumatologist, neurologists and cardiologists at...

Clinical trials on the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma remain inconclusive. While data on safety is increasingly available, evidence for efficacy is still sparse. Subgroup analyses hint to a dose-response relationship between convalescent plasma neutralizing antibody levels and mortality. In particular, patients with primary and secondary antib...

The inability of patients with CVID to mount specific antibody responses to pathogens has raised concerns on the risk and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but there might be a role for protective T cells in these patients. SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells have been reported for SARS-CoV-2 unexposed healthy individuals. Until now, there is no data on T...

(1) Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex neuroimmunological disease. There is evidence for an autoimmune mechanism for ME/CFS with an infection-triggered onset and dysfunction of ß2-adrenoreceptor antibodies (ß2AR-AB). In a first proof-of-concept study, we could show that IA was effective to reduce ß2AR-AB and le...

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) also known as ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or ME/SEID (Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disorder), is a disabling and often long-lasting disease that can drastically impair quality of life and physical/social functioning of the patients. Underlying pathological mechanisms are to a large extent unknown, but the prese...

This review aimed at determining the prevalence and incidence of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) in Europe. We conducted a primary search in Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science for publications between 1994 and 15 June 2019 (PROSPERO: CRD42017078688). Additionally, we performed a backward-(reference lists) and forward-(cit...

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in various genes have been described to be associated with susceptibility to autoimmune disease. In this study, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) patients and controls were genotyped for five immune gene SNPs in tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22, rs2476601), cytotoxic T...

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME) is a complex and severely disabling disease with a prevalence of 0.3% and no approved treatment and therefore a very high medical need. Following an infectious onset patients suffer from severe central and muscle fatigue, chronic pain, cognitive impairment, and immune and autonomic dysf...

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a multifactorial disorder with many possible triggers. Human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 and HHV-7 are two infectious triggers for which evidence has been growing. To understand possible causative role of HHV-6 in ME/CFS, metabolic and antiviral phenotypes of U2-OS cells were studied with and w...

Aims: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex multisystem disease. Evidence for disturbed vascular regulation comes from various studies showing cerebral hypoperfusion and orthostatic intolerance. The peripheral endothelial dysfunction (ED) has not been sufficiently investigated in patients with ME/CFS. The aim of...

Background There is emerging evidence of a network of natural autoantibodies against GPCR which is dysregulated in various diseases. β2 adrenergic and M3 and M4 cholinergic receptor (β2 AdR and M3/4 mAChR) antibodies were found to be elevated in a subset of ME/CFS patients. Methods We comparatively analyzed the effects of polyclonal IgG on β2 AdR...

Adult-onset primary immunodeficiency is characterized by recurrent infections, hypogammaglobulinemia, and poor antibody response to vaccines. In this study, we have analyzed targeted gene panel sequencing results of 270 patients diagnosed with antibody deficiency and identified five disease-associated variants in NFKB1 in five unrelated families. W...

Objective Despite long‐standing safe and effective use of immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT) in primary immunodeficiency, clinical data on IgRT in patients with secondary immunodeficiency (SID) due to B‐cell lymphoproliferative diseases are limited. Here we examine the correlation between approved IgRT indications, treatment recommendations...

Autoantibodies have been associated with autoimmune diseases. However, studies have identified autoantibodies in healthy donors (HD) who do not develop autoimmune disorders. Here we provide evidence of a network of immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) in HD compared to patients with systemic sclerosis,...