New Blood Test to Detect Specific Fibromyalgia “Molecular Fingerprint”
A professor at the College of Medicine at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio named Professor Kevin Hackshaw is credited with heading the research that leads to the discovery of this blood test. Following their research, their findings were published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Professor Hackshaw gathered volunteers who were suffering from similar conditions that share symptoms with the disease and frequently occur simultaneously with it. He also recruited individuals who were already affected by the condition.
The group of participants consisted of 50 individuals who had already received a formal diagnosis, 19 individuals with an osteoarthritis diagnosis, 23 individuals with a lupus diagnosis, and 29 individuals who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
Blood samples were taken from each participant in order to be thoroughly analyzed and studied using vibrational spectroscopy. Vibrational spectroscopy gives scientists a way to identify the vibrational energy in a compound without destroying the sample.
Since every compound and bond has its own unique vibrational energy, it can be differentiated from other bonds. These clear patterns helped the researchers discover a sort of metabolic fingerprint that is exclusive to the condition. Figuring out the vibrational energy that is distinctive to the disease gives scientists a way to definitively identify it in the blood samples.
Professor Hacksaw along with the study’s co-author Luis Rodriguez-Saona, a professor of food science and technology at Ohio State, wants to continue the study in a larger sample of the population to make sure the findings can be replicated. Their hope is that further research and analysis could possibly help them to identify the symptom-causing proteins and chemicals that cause the condition. They hope to implement this type of testing within a few years.
