Aussie researchers find a test and treatment for chronic fatigue

A $1 a day drug could hold the key to a debilitating condition affecting hundreds of thousands of Australians.

Exclusive: A medicine used to treat drug addiction could hold the key to a debilitating condition affecting hundreds of thousands of Australians.

Naltrexone, readily used to treat opioid and alcohol addiction, has been found in much lower doses to help those suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome.

And it could also help 1.4 million other Australians who are expected to develop long Covid.

The conditions drain patients of energy, leaving them bedridden suffering terrible muscle pain, cognition problems, as well as gastric and cardiac issues.

Griffith University researcher Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik discovered the cause of chronic fatigue in 2017.

She developed a diagnostic test but needs $5 million to further her research and is hoping to begin a clinical trial of the drug Naltrexone later this year to treat the estimated 270,000 Australians with chronic fatigue.

Some patients are already accessing the medication when their doctor prescribes it off label (for a use not approved by the TGA), but in this case it does not attract a government subsidy.

Griffith University immunologist Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik.

Chair of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) National Advisory Council Kathy Dallest first developed chronic fatigue in the 1990s and it recurred in 2017 after she caught the flu and again this year when she caught Covid.

She has been using low dose Naltrexone since 2019 and said after just two weeks she noticed she was “thinking clearer (and) maybe having just a little bit more energy.”

It doesn’t work for everybody and getting the dose right is also tricky, Ms Dallest said.

“It works out to be about $1 a day; it’s not on the PBS at all so it’s a private script and you have to get it compounded at a reputable pharmacy.

“I know some people who pay up to $200 a week for different supplements and medications that they find help them,” she said.

Kathy Dallest has had chronic fatigue on and off since the 1990s. Picture: Patrick Woods

In 2017 Prof Marshall-Gradisnik’s research team identified a family of receptors that were dysfunctional in patients suffering ME/CFS.

They found patients with the syndrome had lower levels of calcium coming into their cells, that their cells stored less calcium and this is the basis of their illness.

“We identified a family of receptors that were dysfunctional in ME/CFS patients and they are located on almost every cell in the body,” Prof Marshall-Gradisnik said.

“They’re located on the cardiac cells, highly concentrated in the brain, in the areas of cognition, memory, perception, they regulate the sleep wake cycle as well in the brain,” she said.

Graphic shows the ion channel responsible for chronic fatigue syndrome and how it affects almost every organ in the body. Image supplied

Next, the team developed a diagnostic test for the condition which is currently being refined so it can be done in hours, not days.

The team then began testing a range of currently available medical treatments that worked on calcium channels to see if they may be possible treatment.

They found the drug Naltrexone at a very low dose of 0.5 milligrams to five milligrams stopped the obstruction of the opioid receptor on the calcium channel, allowing it to function again.

“Patients had greater cognition, greater alertness, they had less fatigue, their sleep wake cycle, and word choice was significantly improved,” Prof Marshall-Gradisnik said.

They tested the blood of patients using the drug and found their calcium channel function was restored.

It was likely the treatment may also be of benefit to patients suffering long Covid, Prof Marshall-Gradisnik said.

Originally published as Aussie researchers find a test and treatment for chronic fatigue