CFS is not all in the mind

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Een stukje van een artikel: CFS is not all in the mind Van Juli 2005
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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 Russell 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

Bron CVS-online .nl

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