Inflammatory proteins are altered in chronic fatigue syndrome – a systematic review and meta-analysis

Publication date: Available online 26 August 2019Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsAuthor(s): Rebecca Strawbridge, Maria-Laura Sartor, Fraser Scott, Anthony J. CleareAbstractImmune dysfunction has been posited as a key element in the aetiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) since the illness was first conceived. However, systematic reviews have yet to quantitatively synthesise inflammatory biomarkers across the literature.We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify available data on circulating inflammatory proteins, examining studies recruiting patients with a CFS diagnosis and a non-affected control group.Results were meta-analysed from 42 studies. Patients with CFS had significantly elevated tumour necrosis factor (ES = 0.274, p < 0.001), interleukin-2 (ES = 0.203, p = 0.006), interleukin-4 (ES = 0.373, p = 0.004), transforming growth factor-β (ES = 0.967, p < 0.001) and c-reactive protein (ES = 0.622, p = 0.019). 12 proteins did not differ between groups.These data provide some support for an inflammatory component in CFS, although inconsistency of results indicates that inflammation is unlikely to be a primary feature in all those suffering from this disorder. It is hoped that further work will elucidate whether there are subgroups of patients with clinically-relevant inflammatory dysfunction, and whether inflammatory cytokines may provide a prognostic biomarker or moderate treatment effects...
Source: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research