Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/cachectin (TNF-alpha/cachectin), Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), ACTH, beta-Endorphin (beta-EPH), and Cortisol (F) levels were determined in 33 Headache patients: 22 patients were affected with Migraine (M) and 11 patients with Chronic Type Tension Headache (CTTH). TNF-alpha/cachectin serum level was detected in 15 out of 22 migraneous patients and in no CTTH patients. Plasma LPS was observed in 11 out of 15 TNF-alpha/cachectin positive migraneous patients (73%) and in 3 out of 11 CTTH patients (27%). A negative correlation was observed between TNF-alpha/cachectin values and either ACTH or beta-EPH. In the group of migraneous patients the presence of serum TNF-alpha/cachectin showed a sensibility of .6 and a specificity of 1. The endocrine and immunological implications concerning these data are discussed.
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PMID:Increased spontaneous release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha/cachectin in headache patients. A possible correlation with plasma endotoxin and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. 166 86

Septic shock and invasive infection are diseases caused by humoral mediators of both exogenous and endogenous origin. The search for and identification of these factors has led to the discovery and molecular cloning of cachectin. This pyrogenic cytokine is identical to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and, when released into the circulation, causes profound shock and multiple organ injury. Cachectin antibodies protect against the lethal effects of mice given endotoxin and baboons given E. coli, a result suggesting that this mediator is both necessary and sufficient to provoke septic shock. Cachectin is produced in humans after endotoxin infusion; the infusion of small doses of TNF is associated with fever, rigors, headache, and hypotension. Septicemic patients also produce cachectin, and during meningococcal infection, patients with the highest serum levels of cachectin die. Chronic cachectin production causes a potentially lethal syndrome of cachexia, anemia, and protein and lipid wasting. Future investigation is being directed toward the development of cachectin antibodies for use in treating the humorally mediated systemic complications of infectious disease.
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PMID:Cachectin: a hormone that triggers acute shock and chronic cachexia. 327 61

Human parvovirus B19 infection has been associated with various clinical manifestations of a rheumatic nature such as arthritis, fatigue, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which can persist for years after the acute phase. The authors have demonstrated recently that acute B19 infection is accompanied by raised circulating levels of IL-1b, IL-6, TNF-a, and IFN-g and that raised circulating levels of TNF-a and IFN-g persist and are accompanied by MCP-1 in those patients who develop CFS. A resolution of clinical symptoms and cytokine dysregulation after intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy, which is the only specific treatment for parvovirus B19 infection, also has been reported. Although CFS may be caused by various microbial and other triggers, that triggered by B19 virus is clinically indistinguishable from idiopathic CFS and exhibits similar cytokine abnormalities and may represent an accessible model for the study of CFS.
Curr Pain Headache Rep 2003 Oct
PMID:Cytokines in parvovirus B19 infection as an aid to understanding chronic fatigue syndrome. 1294 85

Fibromyalgia and chronic hepatitis C infection share many clinical features including prominent somatic complaints such as musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. There is a growing body of evidence supporting a link between cytokines and somatic complaints. This review discusses alterations of cytokines in fibromyalgia, including increased serum levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-2 receptor, IL-8, IL-1 receptor antagonist; increased IL-1 and IL-6 produced by stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell in patients with FM for longer than 2 years; increased gp130, which is a neutrophil cytokine transducing protein; increased soluble IL-6 receptor and soluble IL-1 receptor antagonist only in patients with fibromyalgia who are depressed; and IL-1 beta, IL-6, and TNF-a by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in skin biopsies of some patients with fibromyalgia. In addition, this review describes the mechanism by which alterations in cytokines in fibromyalgia and chronic hepatitis C infection can produce hyperalgesia and other neurally mediated symptoms through the presence of cytokine receptors on glial cells and opiate receptors on lymphocytes and the influence of cytokines on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis such as IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-a activating and IL-2 and IFN-a down-regulating the HPA axis, respectively. The association between chronic hepatitis C infection and fibromyalgia is discussed, including a description of key cytokine changes in chronic hepatitis C infection. Future studies are encouraged to further characterize these immunologic alterations with potential pathophysiologic and therapeutic implications.
Curr Pain Headache Rep 2003 Oct
PMID:Fibromyalgia, hepatitis C infection, and the cytokine connection. 1294 86