Tag: neopterin

Dysregulated expression of tumor necrosis factor in chronic fatigue syndrome: interrelations with cellular sources and patterns of soluble immune mediator expression

Abstract:

Among a group of 70 individuals who met the criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta) for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), 12%-28% had serum levels exceeding 95% of control values for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, TNF-beta, interleukin (IL) 1 alpha, IL-2, soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R), or neopterin; overall, 60% of patients had elevated levels of one or more of the nine soluble immune mediators tested.

Nevertheless, only the distributions for circulating levels of TNF-alpha and TNF-beta differed significantly in the two populations. In patients with CFS–but not in controls–serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-1 alpha, IL-4, and sIL-2R correlated significantly with one another and (in the 10 cases analyzed) with relative amounts (as compared to beta-globin or beta-actin) of the only mRNAs detectable by reverse transcriptase-coupled polymerase chain reaction in peripheral-blood mononuclear cells: TNF-beta, unspliced and spliced; IL-1 beta, lymphocyte fraction; and IL-6 (in order of appearance). These findings point to polycellular activation and may be relevant to the etiology and nosology of CFS.

 

Source: Patarca R, Klimas NG, Lugtendorf S, Antoni M, Fletcher MA. Dysregulated expression of tumor necrosis factor in chronic fatigue syndrome: interrelations with cellular sources and patterns of soluble immune mediator expression. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Jan;18 Suppl 1:S147-53. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8148443

 

Serum levels of lymphokines and soluble cellular receptors in primary Epstein-Barr virus infection and in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract:

The immunopathology in primary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections and in chronic fatigue syndrome was studied by examining serum levels of interleukins (IL) and of soluble T cell receptors in serum samples.

Serum samples were from patients during and 6 months after primary EBV-induced infectious mononucleosis and from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and serologic evidence of EBV reactivation. Markers for T lymphocyte activation (soluble IL-2 and CD8) and for monocyte activation (neopterin) were significantly elevated during acute infectious mononucleosis but not in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Interferon-alpha, IL-1 beta, and IL-6 levels were not significantly increased in any patient group but inferferon-gamma levels were significantly increased during the acute phase of infectious mononucleosis. The levels of IL-1 alpha were significantly higher than in controls both in patients with infectious mononucleosis and in those with chronic fatigue syndrome. In the latter, the lack of most markers for lymphocyte activation found in patients with infectious mononucleosis makes it less likely that EBV reactivation causes symptoms.

 

Source: Linde A, Andersson B, Svenson SB, Ahrne H, Carlsson M, Forsberg P, Hugo H, Karstorp A, Lenkei R, Lindwall A, et al. Serum levels of lymphokines and soluble cellular receptors in primary Epstein-Barr virus infection and in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. J Infect Dis. 1992 Jun;165(6):994-1000. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1316417