Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1-3
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-4-30
pubmed:abstractText
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a clinical entity characterized by severe fatigue lasting more than 6 months and other well-defined symptoms. Even though in most CFS cases the etiology is still unknown, sometimes the mode of presentation of the illness implicates the exposure to chemical and/or food toxins as precipitating factors: ciguatera poisoning, sick building syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, exposure to organochlorine pesticides, etc. In the National Reference Center for CFS Study at the Department of Infectious Diseases of 'G. D'Annunzio' University (Chieti) we examined five patients (three females and two males, mean age: 37.5 years) who developed the clinical features of CFS several months after the exposure to environmental toxic factors: ciguatera poisoning in two cases, and exposure to solvents in the other three cases. These patients were compared and contrasted with two sex- and age-matched subgroups of CFS patients without any history of exposure to toxins: the first subgroup consisted of patients with CFS onset following an EBV infection (post-infectious CFS), and the second of patients with a concurrent diagnosis of major depression. All subjects were investigated by clinical examination, neurophysiological and immunologic studies, and neuroendocrine tests. Patients exposed to toxic factors had disturbances of hypothalamic function similar to those in controls and, above all, showed more severe dysfunction of the immune system with an abnormal CD4/CD8 ratio, and in three of such cases with decreased levels of NK cells (CD56+). These findings may help in understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in CFS.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0048-9697
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
10
pubmed:volume
270
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
27-31
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Adult, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Antigens, CD56, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Case-Control Studies, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Depression, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Environmental Exposure, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Epstein-Barr Virus Infections, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Female, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Killer Cells, Natural, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Lymphocyte Subsets, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Magnesium, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Male, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Pain Measurement, pubmed-meshheading:11327394-Prolactin
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Chronic fatigue syndrome following a toxic exposure.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Infectious Diseases, G. D'Annunzio University, Chieti Scalo, Italy. racciatt@unich.it
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article