title: 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.
authors.affiliation: E. M. Papper Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patarca
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Klimas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lugtendorf
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antoni
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fletcher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha