Mitochondrial DNA variants correlate with symptoms in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Table 4 Analysis of associations between ME/CFS symptoms and mtDNA SNPs

Nucleotide position	Symptomatic allele	p value	q value*	Symptom	Type	Survey
150	T	0.000196	0.01373	Accomplished less emotional	–	SF-36
150	T	0.000308	0.02156	Emotional limitations	–	SF-36
150	T	8.94E-05	0.005944	Less time for work	–	SF-36
150	T	0.00048	0.03358	Didn’t work as carefully	–	SF-36
930	G	9.71E-05	0.006795	Difficulty performing work	–	SF-36
1719	A	3.80E-06	0.0002661	Inflammatory distress	Cluster	DePaul
1719	A	4.17E-05	0.002919	Flu-like symptoms	Distress	DePaul
1719	A	6.09E-05	0.004262	Chemical sensitivity	Distress	DePaul
1719	A	6.54E-05	0.00458	Neuro inflammatory distress	Cluster	DePaul
1719	A	0.000161	0.01129	Sensitivity to bright lights	Distress	DePaul
1719	A	0.000295	0.02068	Chemical sensitivity	Severity	DePaul
1719	A	0.000301	0.02108	Sensitivity to bright lights	Frequency	DePaul
3010	A	0.000173	0.01208	Sleep in day, awake all night	Frequency	DePaul
3010	A	0.000226	0.01582	Sleep in day, awake all night	Distress	DePaul
5147	G	0.001175	0.04114	Difficulty performing work	–	SF-36
16093	T	0.000206	0.0144	Accomplished less physical	–	SF-36
16093	T	0.000289	0.02022	Physical limitations	–	SF-36
16223	T	0.00076	0.0266	Sensitivity to bright lights	Frequency	DePaul
16223	T	0.000885	0.03098	Neuro inflammatory distress	Cluster	DePaul
16519	C	0.000125	0.008729	Gastrointestinal distress	Cluster	DePaul
16519	C	0.000135	0.009423	Bloating	Severity	DePaul
16519	C	0.000149	0.01043	Abdomen/stomach pain	Severity	DePaul
16519	C	0.000182	0.01274	Bloating	Frequency	DePaul
16519	C	0.000355	0.02482	Bloating	Distress	DePaul

*q values were calculated by the Benjamini–Hochberg correction applied to the number of SNPs included in the association test for each symptom
Chemical sensitivity refers to “Some smells, foods, medications, or chemicals make you feel sick”. The neuro inflammatory distress cluster combines “sensitivity to bright lights” and ”sensitivity to noise.” The inflammatory distress cluster combines these symptoms: sore throat, tender/sore lymph nodes, fever, flu-like symptoms, and chemical sensitivity. The gastrointestinal distress cluster combines bloating, abdomen/stomach pain, irritable bowel, and nausea. Subjects indicated whether they accomplished less due to emotional factors or because of physical limitations

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