'A non-invasive fluorescence spectoscropy measurement of skin tryptophan and other tissue flourophores on patients with CFS/ME'

- Volunteers needed

Dr Allen wrote an article for the Winter 2007 edition of Focus telling us about his latest work to develop and validate new optical technologies for routine clinical measurement. He will be giving us a scientific outline of his latest study in our next edition.

In the meantime I want to give you a little background into this exciting work and hope you will consider taking part. Dr Allen and his team will be looking for around 60 volunteers and expects to start this study in Autumn 2008.

The pilot study is called "A non-invasive fluorescence spectoscropy measurement of skin tryptophan and other tissue flourophores on patients with CFS/ME". Tissues can glow a little in the dark – skin "fluoresces" under different colours of light. Flourophores like Tryptophan (essential amino acid in serontonin synthesis) have recently been linked to chronic fatigue. Flourescence spectroscopy has great potential for non-invasive monitoring – enabling an "optical biopsy".

The study aims to investigate the potential diagnostic value of this technique by asking "Can fluorescence measurements reliably differentiate between healthy subjects and those with CFS/ME?" The method uses fluorescence spectroscopy and will measure flourescence at different skin sites along the arm.

This pilot study is made possible by funding support from the Northern CFS/ME Clinical Network. Dr Allen is hopeful that this work could ultimately lead to a new diagnostic test in CFS/ME and provide a means of monitoring response to therapy.

We invite you to put your name forward to take part in this important work – please call the office on 0191 3892222 or e-mail [email protected]