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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fatigue, pain, and emotional upset remain the most common problems affecting humanity and for which we still know so very little. Chronic fatigue syndrome is most likely a number of as yet unproven various undifferentiated illnesses that are exceedingly difficult to distinguish from depression. There probably is a subset of patients with CFS who do have true immune dysfunction and persistent viral infection, and this particular group of patients should be further investigated. This group is the minority of patients who present with chronic fatigue. Although chronic fatigue syndrome may be the result of an organic illness in psychologically susceptible individuals, it remains most important to assess underlying psychologic factors that then need to be addressed. These factors may very likely have a profound effect on immune function, but more research is needed in this area. The diagnostic evaluation of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome should initially focus on causes for fatigue other than Epstein-Barr viral infection. Significant underlying medical conditions should be ruled out, and extensive inquiry into symptoms suggestive of depression and anxiety should be aggressively pursued. Treatment should include psychiatric support and counseling, good nutrition, adequate rest, and a gradual increase in activity. Anti-inflammatory agents and serotonin-replenishing antidepressants are helpful when muscle pain and tenderness are a major part of the patient's symptoms. Psychoactive drugs are useful when indicated. Low doses of antidepressants such as doxepin (10-25 mg at night) are generally well tolerated and have shown efficacy in numerous patients, although there are no reports of controlled trials.
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PMID:Chronic fatigue and depression in the ambulatory patient. 187 21

The chronic fatigue syndrome is a poorly defined symptoms complex characterized primarily by chronic or recurrent debilitating fatigue and various combinations of other symptoms, including psychological symptoms, sore throat, lymph node pain, headache, myalgia, arthralgias. Psychological disturbances, ranging from mild depression or anxiety to severe behavioral abnormalities, are always present. Chronic fatigue syndrome is the name that more accurately describes this symptom complex of unknown cause. A viral aetiology has long been hypothesized: many viruses are potential candidates, including any of the 23 Coxsackie A or 6 Coxsackie B viruses, herpes viruses, particularly Epstein-Barr virus and varicella. These studies, though interesting, remain unconvincing because of methodological flaws such as a poor case definition and inadequate control groups. This syndrome may represent an infection by a yet unidentified virus. It is more likely due to an abnormal immune response toward different intracellular pathogens. There is no treatment to ameliorate the chronic fatigue syndrome. Epidemiological studies are essential with explicit operational case definition before progress can be made in the management of this distressing disorder.
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PMID:[The chronic fatigue syndrome. A multifactorial approach and the treatment possibilities]. 207 78

In the 1980s, patients suffering from unexplained fatigue and what seemed like a prolonged attack of acute mononucleosis were given the diagnosis of chronic mononucleosis or chronic infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. Although the diagnosis has great appeal, the Epstein-Barr virus does not cause the syndrome (CFS) of chronic fatigue, which has been renamed and redefined chronic fatigue syndrome to remove the inference that the virus is its cause. From a historical perspective, both syndromes represent the 1980s equivalent of neurasthenia, a disease of fatigue that influenced the development of psychiatric nosology. Because patients with depression and anxiety also have chronic fatigue and because most patients with CFS have an affective disorder, the assessment of organic causes of this syndrome requires careful psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Defining chronic fatigue syndrome as a medical disorder may deprive patients of competent treatment of their affective disorder.
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PMID:Neurasthenia in the 1980s: chronic mononucleosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and anxiety and depressive disorders. 218 52

The relationship between anxiety and depression, and serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) immune parameters was studied in 98 patients randomly selected from those undergoing routine medical evaluation for human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity as part of the U.S. Air Force's mandatory screening program. A total of 95% of the sample did not have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The population was subdivided into high and low anxiety or depression groups for statistical purposes. Significant correlations were obtained between high Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores (greater than 10) and CSF nucleated cell count and protein levels. High Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (greater than 10) scores were positively correlated with CSF nucleated cell count and absolute CD4a counts. There were no statistically significant group differences with respect to mean laboratory values between high and low anxiety or depression subgroups. Serum viral titers to Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus were not correlated with anxiety or depression scores. These results suggest a complex relationship between CSF and systemic immune abnormalities and degree of anxiety and depression.
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PMID:Associations between cerebrospinal fluid parameters and high degrees of anxiety or depression in United States Air Force personnel infected with human immunodeficiency virus. 234 94

In acute infectious mononucleosis large numbers of atypical lymphocytes proliferate in response to B cells infected with Epstein-Barr virus, generally resulting in a self-limited illness. Although both T-cells and NK cells are known to be involved, the precise origin of the large granular lymphocytes in this disorder is incompletely understood. Using two-colour immunofluorescent flow cytometry, we sequentially examined the phenotype of selected T cell and NK cell subsets from nine patients with infectious mononucleosis. In parallel, we determined whether these lymphocytes utilized a restricted repertoire of the T cell receptor gene and also measured their NK activity. Our results show that in acute infectious mononucleosis there was a greater than three-fold increase in T lymphocytes with the phenotype CD2+, CD3+, CD8+ and DR+. A modest increase in Leu7(HNK1)+ and CD4+ T cells was also seen. In addition, there was a three-fold increase in cells coexpressing CD3- and CD16+, the phenotype reported to represent most NK cells. In spite of this latter finding, however, a marked decrease in NK function was found at the time of diagnosis, gradually returning to normal by day 28. Finally, Southern blot analysis of DNA from patient lymphocytes showed polyclonal rearrangements of the T cell receptor beta chain gene. These studies indicate that the proliferation of activated suppressor/cytotoxic T lymphocytes in acute infectious mononucleosis is polyclonal and is associated with transient depression of NK function.
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PMID:Polyclonal proliferation of activated suppressor/cytotoxic T cells with transient depression of natural killer cell function in acute infectious mononucleosis. 252 53

We hypothesize that psychiatric patients suffering from the major affective disorders (depression and manic-depressive illness) may commonly also suffer from a chronic active infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. This infection would be a consequence of the immune dysfunction known to be associated with these disorders of mood. According to this hypothesis, the increased medical morbidity and mortality reported in these psychiatric patients would be attributable in part to diseases in which Epstein-Barr virus is implicated or suspected as a cause.
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PMID:Epstein-Barr virus as a cause of autoimmune disease and other medical morbidity in patients with affective disorders. 255 Jul 49

Forty-four patients, including 26 adults and 18 children under 15 years of age, were referred for evaluation of recurrent or persistent illnesses, with symptoms including pharyngitis, lymphadenopathy, fever, headaches, arthralgia, fatigue, depression, dyslogia, and myalgia. Thirty-nine patients were positive for Epstein-Barr virus antibody with antibody levels compatible with active infection for at least 1 year. Antiviral capsid antigen and anti-early antigen titers of patients were significantly greater (p less than 0.001) than age-group-matched controls. The frequency, number, duration, and patterns of symptoms, as well as patient sex, were compared by age in study patients seropositive and seronegative for Epstein-Barr virus. Illness patterns were not associated with changes in specific antibody titers or clinical findings. Lymphocyte phenotype and function analyses were done in 11 of the 39 patients positive for Epstein-Barr virus antibody; no consistent differences from normal were found. Only 1 of 32 patients had circulating interferon, in contrast to 7 of 7 patients with acute infectious mononucleosis. There were many adverse consequences of the illness. Epstein-Barr virus infection may not be self-limiting, and the virus may be associated with clinically recognizable illness other than infectious mononucleosis in children as well as in adults.
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PMID:Evidence for active Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with persistent, unexplained illnesses: elevated anti-early antigen antibodies. 257 66

The chronic fatigue syndrome is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by easy fatigability, feverishness, diffuse pains, and depression. Many patients also report inhalant, food, or drug allergies. This article reviews the clinical features of the syndrome and hypotheses of its pathogenesis, especially those regarding the Epstein-Barr virus and cellular immune mechanisms. Also summarized are recent studies of the validity of atopic complaints in the syndrome. The results of epicutaneous skin testing demonstrated a high correlation with history in 24 patients. Atopy coexists with the chronic fatigue syndrome in greater than 50% of patients.
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PMID:Allergy and the chronic fatigue syndrome. 283 90

Antibody titers to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), early antigen (EA) IgG, and virus capsid antigen (VCA) IgG and IgA, were measured in 44 geriatric subjects to determine if the depression in cellular immunity known to be associated with aging affects the expression of latent EBV. Similar assays were performed on plasma obtained from a young adult (medical student) population as a control group. We found that 89% of the geriatric samples were positive for EA IgG, and 83% of the plasma obtained from medical students were positive for EA IgG. One hundred percent of the geriatric subjects were positive for VCA IgG, and 87% of the medical students were positive for VCA IgG. Seven percent of the medical student blood samples were positive for VCA IgA; in contrast, 36% of the blood samples obtained from the geriatrics subjects were positive. Significant differences were also found in the geometric mean titers (GMT) of antibodies to EBV antigens; the GMT to EBV EA and VCA were significantly higher in the geriatric group. The data suggest that there may be some loss of control over latent EBV by the cellular immune response in geriatric individuals.
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PMID:Changes in Epstein-Barr virus antibody titers associated with aging. 298 72

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a B lymphotropic virus, is involved in a growing number of immunopathological disorders benign or malignant. The X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome and its multifaceted clinical expression in a unique situation described in this issue by Purtilo. Among recent findings, the association between EBV and idiopathic interstitial pneumopathy (also named cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis), is to be noted (6). From a molecular biology view-point, in vitro immortalization of B lymphocytes by EBV is under a pluri-genic (EBNA 2, EBNA 1, LYDMA) control. The role of EBV in oncogenesis appears different in Burkitt's Lymphoma (BL) and in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In development of African BL, EBV appears to initiate the multistage carcinogenic event, through an early and massive infection. Other events include specific depression of T-cell immunity by hyperendemic malaria and c-myc onc-gene activation through chromosome translocation. In the genesis of NPC, the role of EBV still remain to be clarified although the strong and consistent association between EBV and the undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharyngeal (NPC) around the world favours an etiological relationship. The simple detection of IgA antibodies to VCA and EA allows early detection of the NPC, thus permitting a 95% cure rate at 5 years post-radiotherapy. Such an early diagnostic is of paramount public health importance. Furthermore, IgA/VCA and IgA/EA antibodies characterize precancerous conditions, giving the theoretical possibility of preventive interventions.
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PMID:The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV): a Rosetta Stone for understanding the role of viruses in immunopathological disorders and in human carcinogenesis. 299 May 89


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