Guest guest Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Yes this is all over the news on CNN and newspapers. It is a huge finding. CFS is finally being recginized in mainstream as a severe disease. > Found this while scurrying about looking for other stuff. It was hiding in > a professional health group I am in. Hope it is interesting. > > > > Kaushik N, Fear D, s SCM, et al. Gene expression in peripheral blood > mononuclear cells from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. > > J Clin Path 2005;58:826-832. > > Narendra Kaushik, Fear, Selwyn CM s, Clare R McDermott, Emile F > Nuwaysir, Kellam, Tim J on, J Wilkinson, AJ Tyrrell, > T Holgate, R Kerr Fritz E, J, Kerr JR, et al. > Association of chronic fatigue syndrome with human leukocyte antigen class > ii alleles. Clin Path 2005;58:860-863. > > > > Chronic fatigue is not all in the mind > > > > 21 July 2005 > > NewScientist.com news service > > Rowan Hooper > > > > AT LONG last, we are beginning to get to grips with chronic fatigue > syndrome. Differences in gene expression have been found in the immune cells > of people with the disease, a discovery that could lead to a blood test for > the disorder and perhaps even to drugs for treating it. > > > > The symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome have been compared to those of a > really bad hangover: extreme weakness, inability to think straight, > disrupted sleep and headache. But unlike a hangover, the symptoms linger for > years, devastating people's lives. > > > > While nobody doubts CFS exists, just about every aspect of it is > controversial. Some say it is the same as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME; > others disagree. Many specialists are convinced it does have a biological > basis, but pinning down physical abnormalities common to all patients has > proved tough. People with CFS have often received little sympathy from > doctors who dismiss it as " all in the mind " . > > > > Now Kerr's team, which is moving to St 's University of > London, has compared levels of gene expression in the white blood cells of > 25 healthy individuals with those in 25 patients diagnosed as having CFS > according to strict criteria. The researchers found differences in 35 of the > 9522 genes they analysed using DNA chip technology. > > > > The few similar studies done in the past have produced conflicting results, > so the team double-checked their results using a more accurate method called > real-time PCR. That confirmed that 15 of the genes were up to four times as > active in people with CFS, while one gene was less active. The results will > appear in the Journal of Clinical Pathology next month. > > > > Kerr is repeating the study in 1000 CFS patients and healthy controls, this > time looking at 47,000 gene products. So far, the larger study backs up the > earlier results, he told New Scientist. > > > > If Kerr really has succeeded where many have failed, and identified clear > physical changes in people with CFS, the lingering opinion that it is " all > in the mind " could finally be laid to rest. " This exciting new work shows > that some aspects of this complex illness may be understandable in molecular > terms, and that CFS is not a 'made up' > > illness, " says Lane, a neurologist at Charing Cross Hospital in > London. > > > > It should also be possible to develop a blood test for CFS. The team has > already discovered differences in blood proteins related to the changes in > gene expression. > > > > Kerr hopes the work might even lead to treatments. " We have shown that a > significant part of the pathogenesis resides in the white blood cells and in > their activity, " he says. " It will open the door to development of > pharmacological interventions. " > > > > Several of the genes identified by the team in CFS play important roles in > mitochondria, the power factories of our cells. " The involvement of such > genes does seem to fit with the fact that these patients lack energy and > suffer from fatigue, " Kerr says. > > > > One of these gene products, EIF4G1, is involved in protein production in > mitochondria. It is hijacked by some viruses, so cells may compensate by > ramping up gene expression. " I am excited by the paper, " says Basant Puri, a > CFS expert at Hammersmith Hospital in London. " The group's finding of > upregulation of EIF4G1 is consistent with subclinical persistent viral > infection. " > > > > This fits in with the idea that CFS is sometimes triggered by viruses such > as Epstein-Barr, Q fever, enteroviruses and parvovirus B19. " CFS often > begins with a flu-like illness which never goes away, " Kerr says. > > > > Of the other genes whose expression varies in CFS patients, some are > involved in regulating the activity of the immune system. Others play > important roles in nerve cells, including a gene called NTE, which codes for > an enzyme affected by organophosphates and nerve gases. > > > > Journal reference: Journal of Clinical Pathology (vol 58, p 823, 860) From > issue 2509 of New Scientist magazine, 21 July 2005, page 9 > http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18725093.700 > > > > Bruce Guilmette, Ph.D. > > Survive Cancer Foundation, Inc. > > http://www.survivecancer.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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