Open-label pilot for treatment targeting gut dysbiosis in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: neuropsychological symptoms and sex comparisons

Table 3 Summary of large spearman’s rho (r_s) correlations (> .5) between clinical change and microbial or lactate change variables in males

Microbial count and lactate change	Clinical change	r _s	p	n	Direction of change in bacteria associated with clinical improvement
Bacteroides	Sleep quality—PSQI	− .758	.011	10	Increase
	General fatigue—MFI	− .738	.004	13	Increase
	Stress—DASS	− .701	.011	12	Increase
	Total symptoms—SSH	− .600	.067	10	Increase
	Mood disturbance—POMS total	− .573	.066	11	Increase
	Actigraphy wake after sleep onset	− .529	.043	15	Increase
	Planning—SWM—strategy	.588	.017	16	Decrease
Bifidobacterium	Sleep quality—PSQI	− .681	.030	10	Increase
	General fatigue—MFI	− .602	.030	13	Increase
	Anxiety—DASS	− .567	.043	13	Increase
	Visual learning—PAL—total errors	− .529	.035	16	Increase
Clostridium	Total symptoms—SSH	.582	.078	10	Decrease
	Verbal fluency—COWAT corrected score^a	.550	.027	16	Decrease
	Story memory—LM immediate^a	.522	.038	16	Decrease
	Processing speed—RVP mean latency	.507	.045	16	Decrease
Enterococcus	General fatigue—MFI	− .516	.071	13	Increase
Lactobacillus	Actigraphy sleep onset latency	.610	.016	15	Decrease
	Attention—RVP A′^a	− .571	.021	16	Increase
	Actigraphy sleep efficiency^a	.512	.051	15	Decrease
Streptococcus	Diary sleep onset latency	− .656	.006	16	Increase
d:l Lactate ratio	Actigraphy sleep onset latency	.802	.001	14	Decrease
	Total symptoms—SSH	.567	.112	9	Decrease
	General fatigue—MFI	.532	.061	13	Decrease
	Mood disturbance—POMS total	.509	.110	11	Decrease

N.B. Lower scores on clinical outcomes = improvement
^aVariables with reversed correlations (i.e., multiplied by − 1) to allow for consistent interpretation

ISSN: 1479-5876