, 2010, Klimas and Koneru, 2007 and Komaroff, 2000). Molecular testing, DNA, RNA and proteomics are increasing recognized to be important in studies of CFS. There exists a substantial body of transcriptome work in CFS and significant findings have recently been published by Natelson and colleagues on the proteomics of cerebral spinal Akt inhibitor fluid in this population (Schutzer et al., 2011). There have also been early attempts at linking clinically defined sub-groups in CFS with their molecular and/or cellular phenotype (Aspler et al.,

2008, Carmel et al., 2006 and Kerr et al., 2008). This paper is intended to provide guidance with respect to the minimum data elements that should be reported in CFS research with the long-term goal of improving the consistency and quality of the methods used to study this complex illness. It is hoped that future CFS research will involve more interdisciplinary collaboration and interactions across various institutional settings. This would allow CFS researchers to share promising instruments, data sets, and new methods of exchanging and pooling data. For example, REDCap (research electronic data

capture) is an open-access online database at http://project-redcap.org/ which allows researchers to submit their own instruments and scales, as well as use a large number already inventoried. In addition, investigators can share data across settings, thus enlarging communication lines and enhancing standardization procedures across sites. This is a free service PLX-4720 in vivo and requires only that a given university sign up as a participating site. We believe that community researchers will increasingly utilize such websites to provide greater consensus regarding instruments and methods employed in multisite studies. However, such widespread collaborations will require thoughtful and innovative planning to properly Adenylyl cyclase address potential obstacles such as HIPPA and IRB concerns. One avenue that

might lead to resolution of these and other challenges (e.g. intellectual property rights) involve current strategic initiatives from government funding agencies that not only encourage but also require a consortium. Given the importance of self-report symptoms for diagnosis, below we provide more information with respect to issues of reliability and validity. For example, it is critical to develop ways of defining symptoms in a particular case definition to ensure agreement among different clinicians or researchers on whether or not a patient has met a threshold for having a particular symptom listed. The 1994 International Research case definition is recognized to have ambiguities (Reeves et al., 2003), for example it does not specify a threshold for counting the 8 core symptoms.