Scripps team finds supporting evidence for an autoimmune factor in chronic fatigue syndrome
December 30, 1997
New data for the role of an autoimmune factor in chronic fatigue syndrome was presented in the Journal Of Clinical Investigation.
The study found that approximately 52 percent of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome develop autoantibodies to components of the nuclear envelope protein. According to Dr. K. Konstantinov, from the Scripps Research Institute, LaJolla, California, previous studies led to the hypothesis that chronic, low- level activation of the immune system is an etiologic factor in chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Konstantinov and others investigated the blood of 60 affected patients for evidence of this activation. The researchers observed that the nuclear envelope-specific autoantibodies of the IgG isotope reacted predominantly with the nuclear envelope protein Iamin B1, providing new laboratory evidence for an autoimmune component in chronic fatigue syndrome.
The Scripps team concluded that the humoral autoimmunity against polypeptide of the nuclear envelope, in addition to other disturbances of the immune system, is a prominent immune derangement in chronic fatigue syndrome.
For the past several years there has been a suspicion that autoimmunity may play a role in chronic fatigue syndrome. These findings clearly indicate that more research into this possibility is needed.
