Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik – part of the team at Griffith University working on ME Research UK-funded research investigating changes in the the brain in people with ME/CFS – has recently appeared, alongside colleague Dr Peter Smith, on Australian radio show “ABC Radio Nightlife”, to discuss their latest publication from another ongoing project, which has been widely covered in the Australian media.
Also highlighted at the 2025 IACFS/ME conference, this new study investigates the potential link between Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channel abnormalities and ME/CFS symptoms.
Notably, TRP ion channels regulate the body’s response to external “threats” or stressors such as injury, temperature change, infection, chemicals, and allergens.
During the show, allergist and immunologist, Dr Peter Smith, recalled that when he and Sonya first started discussing the idea for the project, it was because he had noticed the number of patients who came to his clinic with hypersensitivity that also had ME/CFS.
Smith stated that although these patients tested negative on allergy tests, they “suffer, they have pain, they have dysfunction, they have pressure behind the eyes”.
Therefore, due to the role in regulating how the body responds to external stressors, it made sense for the team to the team to look at TRP ion channels as a potential source of dysfunction in people with ME/CFS.
Importantly, the findings from this study validate the results from the team’s previous research in different groups of participants that also identified TRP ion channel abnormalities.
It is possible that low dose naltrexone (LDN) may help to restore the function of the dysfunctional TRP ion channels in people with ME/CFS. However, much more research is needed to assess the safety and efficacy of the drug; something that Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik and Dr Peter Smith are working on currently.
