Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, is a long-lasting, debilitating disease. It is, as is clear from the generally accepted name, characterized, first, by severe fatigue. In addition, patients with CFS have frequent headaches, reduced cognitive abilities, allergic reactions, various sleep disorders and even muscle pain.
The CFS is diagnosed in approximately 17 million people worldwide, and sometimes the disease is so severe that the patient does not even have the strength to get out of bed.
It has been previously established that people with this syndrome experience exhaustion at the cellular level. Moreover, their bodies, as a rule, lack iodine and thyroid hormones.
Nevertheless, the causes of the development of chronic fatigue syndrome have not yet been studied well enough.
The new work of scientists from King's College London helped shed light on the nature of the disorder. Experts have found that prolonged fatigue prior to the development of CFS may be associated with an excessive immune response. We are talking about the "overactive" state of the defenses of our body.
The authors of the work explain: the first evidence that the immune system plays a certain role in the development of CFS has appeared quite some time ago and continues to accumulate. In particular, many patients report a similar condition after suffering a disease caused by a virus.
In fact, the CFS begins to develop much earlier, and by the time the diagnosis is made it is quite difficult to suppress it.
That is why the researchers decided to study the nature of the disease. In their opinion, this will help diagnose it earlier, as well as develop the most effective treatment methods.
Specialists used patient data to create a kind of model for the development of CFS. 55 people with chronic hepatitis C took part in the work. They received standard treatment with an antiviral agent called interferon-alpha. It causes a powerful immune response - the same as a serious infection would cause.
At the same time, many patients experience fatigue during such therapy, and in some of them this condition persists for several months after the end of the course of treatment.
In the course of the new work, scientists fixed markers of fatigue and observed the volunteers immune response before, during and after treatment with interferon-alpha. Symptoms of CFS in the course of therapy were detected in 18 people.
Comparing their performance with data from other participants, the researchers found differences in the work of the immune system, in particular, a more powerful immune response. The number of informational molecules called interleukin-10 and interleukin-6, which stimulate it, was doubled in these patients.
It is important to note that even before the start of treatment, the levels of interleukin-10 were higher among those people who subsequently showed signs of chronic fatigue syndrome. In other words, their immune system probably already had an increased sensitivity.
"For the first time, we have shown that people who are prone to develop a CFS-like illness have an overactive immune system, both before and during a challenge to the immune system. Our findings suggest that people who have an exaggerated immune response to a trigger may be more at risk of developing CFS" said lead author Alice Russell.
It is noteworthy that by the time the patients developed the CFS, there were no noticeable differences in the performance of their immune system and that of the other participants. No other risk factors such as severe fatigue, mental disorders, or stressful events were recorded in the volunteers prior to treatment.
In addition, the specialists did not find similar differences, comparing the data of another 54 patients who had already been diagnosed with CFS, and 57 healthy people from the control group.
This means that chronic fatigue syndrome, in all likelihood, can only be detected at the initial stage - at that period of time when a person has an increased number of certain “immune markers”.
"A better understanding of the biology underlying the development of CFS is needed to help patients suffering with this debilitating condition. Although screening tests are a long way off, our results are the first step in identifying those at risk and catching the illness in its crucial early stages" said study co-author Professor Carmine Pariante.
At the next stage, his team will confirm that the results obtained are applicable to the majority of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as to find factors that can cause an excessive immune response. Subsequently, on the basis of these data, it will be possible to develop new methods for diagnosing debilitating disorders.
The scientific article on the results of this work was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
The illustrations are used in agreement with the Depositphotos photobank
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