Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0016053 (fibromyalgia)
 4,687 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This study reports an improved approach for the determination of neuropeptide levels in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The method is based on sample acidification followed by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) combined with radioimmunoassay. It was applied to study the recovery and level of some opioid peptides (Met-enkephalin-Arg(6)-Phe(7) and Leu-enkephalin-Arg(6)), substance P and the substance P(1-7) fragment, which are all compounds known to be present in human CSF. The results indicated that the use of LLE highly improved the recovery of these peptides compared to current liquid-solid-phase extraction methods by using silica gel cartridges or mini-columns for ion-exchange chromatography. Peptides added to CSF in concentrations down to 10 fmol/ml were recovered in yields exceeding 80%. The mean recovery of synthetic peptides as recorded by radioimmunoassay in the LLE procedure was significantly improved when HCl was added to the sample. In contrast, when the (125)I-labeled analogues of the peptides were added to CSF samples, the mean recovery of the four labeled peptides using the LLE procedure was markedly reduced in acidified samples. We also found that the inclusion of HCl effectively improved the removal of proteins present in the samples. As an application the levels of substance P and Met-enkephalin-Arg(6)-Phe(7) in CSF samples from patients with chronic pain (fibromyalgia syndrome) were measured using the new procedure. It was possible to confirm a significant difference in the CSF levels of both peptides when comparing patients and controls.
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PMID:A high-recovery extraction procedure for quantitative analysis of substance P and opioid peptides in human cerebrospinal fluid. 1095 8

The aims of the present study were to examine serotonergic markers, i.e. [3H]paroxetine binding characteristics and the availability of plasma tryptophan, the precursor of serotonin (5-HT), and the plasma concentrations of the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), valine, leucine and isoleucine, in fibromyalgia. The [3H]paroxetine binding characteristics, B(max) and K(d) values, and tryptophan and the competing amino acids (CAA), known to compete for the same cerebral uptake mechanism (i.e. valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine and tyrosine), were determined in fibromyalgia patients and normal controls. There were no significant differences in the [3H]paroxetine binding characteristics (B(max) and K(d)) between fibromyalgia and control subjects. There were no significant differences in plasma tryptophan or the tryptophan/CAA ratio between fibromyalgia patients and normal controls. In the fibromyalgia patients, there were no significant correlations between [3H]paroxetine binding characteristics or the availability of tryptophan and myalgic or depressive symptoms. Patients with fibromyalgia had significantly lower plasma concentrations of the three BCAAs (valine, leucine and isoleucine) and phenylalanine than normal controls. It is hypothesized that the relative deficiency in the BCAAs may play a role in the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia, since the BCAAs supply energy to the muscle and regulate protein synthesis in the muscles. A supplemental trial with BCAAs in fibromyalgia appears to be justified.
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PMID:Serotonergic markers and lowered plasma branched-chain-amino acid concentrations in fibromyalgia. 1110 53

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and depression are considered to be neuro-immune disorders (Maes and Twisk, BMC Medicine 8:35, 2010). There is also evidence that depression and ME/CFS are accompanied by oxidative and nitrosative stress (O&NS) and by increased autoantibodies to a number of self-epitopes some of which have become immunogenic due to damage by O&NS. The aim of this study is to examine IgM-mediated autoimmune responses to different self-epitopes in ME/CFS versus depression. We examined serum IgM antibodies to three anchorage molecules (palmitic and myristic acid and S-farnesyl-L-cysteine); acetylcholine; and conjugated NO-modified adducts in 26 patients with major depression; 16 patients with ME/CFS, 15 with chronic fatigue; and 17 normal controls. Severity of fatigue and physio-somatic (F&S) symptoms was measured with the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Rating Scale. Serum IgM antibodies to the three anchorage molecules and NO-phenylalanine were significantly higher in ME/CFS than in depression. The autoimmune responses to oxidatively, but not nitrosatively, modified self-epitopes were significantly higher in ME/CFS than in depression and were associated with F&S symptoms. The autoimmune activity directed against conjugated acetylcholine did not differ significantly between ME/CFS and depression, but was greater in the patients than controls. Partially overlapping pathways, i.e. increased IgM antibodies to a multitude of neo-epitopes, underpin both ME/CFS and depression, while greater autoimmune responses directed against anchorage molecules and oxidatively modified neo-epitopes discriminate patients with ME/CFS from those with depression. These autoimmune responses directed against neoantigenic determinants may play a role in the dysregulation of key cellular functions in both disorders, e.g. intracellular signal transduction, cellular differentiation and apoptosis, but their impact may be more important in ME/CFS than in depression.
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PMID:IgM-mediated autoimmune responses directed against anchorage epitopes are greater in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) than in major depression. 2261 23

The objectives of our study were to evaluate free amino acid (FAA) concentrations in the serum of patients affected by fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and to determine the relationships between FAA levels and FMS clinical parameters. Thus, serum amino acid concentrations were quantified (HPLC analysis) in 23 females with fibromyalgia (according to the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria) and 20 healthy females. The results showed significantly higher serum concentrations of aspartate, cysteine, glutamate, glycine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, ornithine, phenylalanine, sarcosine, serine, taurine, tyrosine and valine in FMS patients vs. healthy controls. Patients with higher Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) scores showed increased levels of alanine, glutamine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, proline and valine. In conclusion, our results indicate an imbalance in some FAAs in FMS patients. Increased Glu is particularly interesting, as it could explain the deficit in monoaminergic transmission involved in pain.
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PMID:Free amino acids in fibromyalgia syndrome: relationship with clinical picture. 2807 4