Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0015674 (chronic fatigue syndrome)
 2,978 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is much conflicting immunological and viral data about the causes of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS); some findings support the notion that CFS may be due to one or more immune disorders that have resulted from exposure to an infectious agent. In the present study, flow cytometry and several different monoclonal antibodies recognising T, B, and natural killer (NK) cell populations as well as activation and cell adhesion antigens were used to study 147 individuals with CFS. Compared with healthy controls, a reduced CD8 suppressor cell population and increased activation markers (CD38, HLA-DR) on CD8 cells were found. The differences were significant (p = 0.01) in patient with major symptoms of the disease. These immunological indices were not observed in 80 healthy individuals, in 22 contacts of CFS patients, or in 43 patients with other diseases. No correlation of these findings in CFS patients with any known human viruses could be detected by serology. The findings suggest that immune activation is associated with many cases of CFS.
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PMID:Chronic fatigue syndrome: clinical condition associated with immune activation. 167 64

We studied monocyte function in 35 consecutive patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and 25 healthy controls. Eighty-five per cent of the patients showed monocyte dysfunction characterized by marked reduction in the number of monocytes displaying immunoreactive cytoskeletal vimentin filaments, a low phagocytosis index, and a reduced expression of HLA-DR antigens. These values increased dramatically after incubation of the patients' monocytes with the opioid antagonist naloxone. Other immunological abnormalities also noted in the patients were low lymphocyte blastogenesis and diminished numbers of monocytes displaying receptors for Fc of IgG (FcR) and C3b (CR1). These findings suggest that an increased opioid activity acting through a classical receptor mechanism is active on monocytes from a high proportion of patients with CFS and that this represents a novel example of immunomodulation by opioid peptides in human disease. We suggest that endogenous opioids are involved in the pathogenesis of the chronic fatigue syndrome.
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PMID:Naloxone-reversible monocyte dysfunction in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. 252 66

Several aspects of cellular immunity in patients with clinically defined chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) were evaluated and compared with those in healthy individuals. Flow cytometric analyses revealed normal expression of total T (CD3+), B (CD19+), and NK (natural killer) (CD16+, CD56+) markers on the surface of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMC) from patients with CFS. However, compared with those of healthy individuals, patients' CD8+ T cells expressed reduced levels of CD11b and expressed the activation markers CD38 and HLA-DR at elevated levels. In many of the individuals in whom expression of CD11b was reduced the expression of CD28 was increased. These findings indicate expansion of a population of activated CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes. A marked decrease in NK cell activity was found in almost all patients with CFS, as compared with that in healthy individuals. No substantial abnormalities in monocyte activity or T cell proliferation were observed. The results of this study suggest that immune cell phenotype changes and NK cell dysfunction are common manifestations of CFS.
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PMID:Immunologic abnormalities associated with chronic fatigue syndrome. 814 41

Whether immunologic abnormalities correlate with fatigue severity and functional impairment in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was investigated. Blood mononuclear cells were immunophenotyped and circulating ex vivo-produced cytokines were measured in 76 CFS patients and 69 healthy matched controls. Expression of CD11b on CD8 cells was significantly decreased in CFS patients. However, the previously reported increased expression of CD38 and HLA-DR was not confirmed. There was no obvious difference in apoptosis in leukocyte cultures, circulating cytokines, and ex vivo production of interleukin (IL)-1 alpha and IL-1 receptor antagonist. Endotoxin-stimulated ex vivo production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and IL-beta was significantly lower in CFS. The immunologic test results did not correlate with fatigue severity or psychologic well-being was measured by Checklist Individual Strength, Beck Depression Inventory, and Sickness Impact Profile. Thus, these immunologic tests cannot be used as diagnostic tools in individual CFS patients.
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PMID:Lymphocyte subsets, apoptosis, and cytokines in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. 856 12

Surface and intracellular immunologic and apoptotic markers and functional lymphocyte assays after stimulation with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibodies or phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were studied in 44 patients fulfilling the Oxford criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Results were then correlated to scores for the Short Form-36 health questionnaire (SF-36), which assesses eight aspects of patient's well-being, and for the general health questionnaire (GHQ), which detects current psychiatric disorder. Patients had significantly increased mean fluorescence intensity readings of HLA-DR in CD4 and CD8 cells (P < 0.05). Expression of the costimulatory receptor CD28 in CD8 cells was significantly reduced, and the apoptosis repressor ratio of bcl-2/bax in both CD4 and CD8 was increased in patients (P < 0.05). Patients with increased HLA-DR expression had significantly lower SF-36 total scores, worse body pains, and poorer general health perception and physical functioning scores. Increased spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation was associated with poor general health perception. PHA proliferative responses were lower in patients with poor emotional and mental health scores, and the anti-CD3/anti-CD28 response was low in those with low general health perception scores. Higher spontaneous proliferation and reduced PHA responses correlated with higher GHQ scores. Similarly, GHQ scores were significantly higher, indicating worse mental health, in those with lower total SF-36 scores and worse general and mental health scores in the SF-36 questionnaire. Finally, higher expression of the costimulatory molecule CD28 correlated with higher total SF-36 scores, general health perception and social functioning scores, and with lower role limitation due to physical health. The increased expression of class II antigens and the reduced expression of the costimulatory receptor CD28, which is a marker of terminally differentiated cells, lend further support to the concept of immunoactivation of T-lymphocytes in CFS and may be consistent with the notion of a viral etiopathogenesis in the illness. We report, for the first time, increased expression of the apoptosis repressor protein bcl-2, which may contribute to enhanced survival of activated lymphocytes. Using the SF-36 health assessment questionnaire and the GHQ, we demonstrated changes in different immunological parameters, each of which correlated with particular aspects of disease symptomatology.
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PMID:A study of the immunology of the chronic fatigue syndrome: correlation of immunologic parameters to health dysfunction. 957 11

Hepatitis B vaccines are highly effective and safe and have been incorporated into national immunization programs in over 150 countries. The major humoral immune response is to the common a determinant of the surface antigen protein of the virus. Approximately 5-10% of healthy immunocompetent subjects do not mount an antibody response (anti-HBs). Non-response is associated with different HLA-DR alleles and impaired Th cell response, among other factors such as route of injection, age, gender, body mass, and other factors. Important hepatitis B surface antigen variants have also been identified, which may have a potential impact on immunization and routine screening of blood, blood products and tissues, and organs for transplantation. Strategies for hepatitis B immunization are reviewed. Over 1,000 million doses of hepatitis B vaccine have been used with an outstanding record of safety. There is no evidence of an association between hepatitis B vaccines and the sudden infant death syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and multiple sclerosis (MS). Several studies are in progress on treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection by immunization with multiple antigenic components, combination of vaccine with antiviral drugs and cytokines, T cell vaccines, DNA vaccines alone or with DNA encoded immunomodulatory cytokines, and direct genetic manipulation of antigen presenting cells.
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PMID:Protective efficacy, immunotherapeutic potential, and safety of hepatitis B vaccines. 1637 85

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a specific clinical condition that characterises unexplained disabling fatigue and a combination of non-specific accompanying symptoms for at least 6 months, in the absence of a medical diagnosis that would otherwise explain the clinical presentation. Other common symptoms include headaches, myalgia, arthralgia, and post-exertional malaise; cognitive difficulties, with impaired memory and concentration; unrefreshing sleep; and mood changes. Similar disorders have been described for at least two centuries and have been differently named neurasthenia, post-viral fatigue, myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic mononucleosis. Recent longitudinal studies suggest that some people affected by chronic fatigue syndrome improve with time but that most remain functionally impaired for several years. The estimated worldwide prevalence of CFS is 0.4-1% and it affects over 800,000 people in the United States and approximately 240,000 patients in the UK. No physical examination signs are specific to CFS and no diagnostic tests identify this syndrome. The pathophysiological mechanism of CFS is unclear. The main hypotheses include altered central nervous system functioning resulting from an abnormal immune response against a common antigen; a neuroendocrine disturbance; cognitive impairment caused by response to infection or other stimuli in sentient people. The current concept is that CFS pathogenesis is a multifactorial condition. Various studies have sought evidence for a disturbance in immunity in people with CFS. An alteration in cytokine profile, a decreased function of natural killer (NK) cells, a presence of autoantibodies and a reduced responses of T cells to mitogens and other specific antigens have been reported. The observed high level of pro-inflammatory cytokines may explain some of the manifestations such as fatigue and flu-like symptoms and influence NK activity. Abnormal activation of the T lymphocyte subsets and a decrease in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity have been described. An increased number of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and CD38 and HLA-DR activation markers have been reported, and a decrease in CD11b expression associated with an increased expression of CD28+ T subsets has been observed. This review discusses the immunological aspects of CFS and offers an immunological hypothesis for the disease processes.
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PMID:Immunological aspects of chronic fatigue syndrome. 1880 65

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a debilitating illness of unknown etiology characterized by neurocognitive dysfunction, inflammation, immune abnormalities and gastrointestinal distress. An increasing body of evidence suggests that disruptions in the gut may contribute to the induction of neuroinflammation. Therefore, reports of human endogenous retroviral (HERV) expression in association with neuroinflammatory diseases prompted us to investigate the gut of individuals with ME for the presence of HERV proteins. In eight out of 12 individuals with ME, immunoreactivity to HERV proteins was observed in duodenal biopsies. In contrast, no immunoreactivity was detected in any of the eight controls. Immunoreactivity to HERV Gag and Env proteins was uniquely co-localized in hematopoietic cells expressing the C-type lectin receptor CLEC4C (CD303/BDCA2), the co-stimulatory marker CD86 and the class II major histocompatibility complex HLA-DR, consistent with plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Although the significance of HERVs present in the pDCs of individuals with ME has yet to be determined, these data raise the possibility of an involvment of pDCs and HERVs in ME pathology. To our knowledge, this report describes the first direct association between pDCs and HERVs in human disease.
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PMID:Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the duodenum of individuals diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis are uniquely immunoreactive to antibodies to human endogenous retroviral proteins. 2342 76