Cerebral Autoregulation Is Associated with Skeletal Muscle PH in Patients Suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Both at Rest and During Dynamic Stimulation

Jiabao He¹, Kieren G. Hollingsworth¹, Julia L. Newton², Andrew M. Blamire¹

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is related to a compromised skeletal muscle response to exercise and autonomic dysfunction. We hypothesised that if CFS has a central mediating factor then there would be a correlation between the pH handling in skeletal muscle and cerebral vascular regulation. We performed ASL MRI to measure CBF and 31P MRS to probe skeletal muscle pH at rest. We conducted fMRI concurrently with the Valsalva manoeuvre, as well as 31P MRS to measure recovered pH after plantar flexion exercise. We found there is a close relationship between skeletal muscle pH and cerebral vascular regulation in CFS.