Jose Montoya–Circulating cytokines in ME/CFS patients reveal a novel inflammatory and autoimmune profile

Flu-like symptlms are ongoing, but conventional markers are seldom elevated. There is an associated TH-2 shift. He presented a controlled study of 197 cases and 300 controls. MFI20 and FSS scores were measured to assess severity, followed by statistical analysis. Included was the LASSO technique, and also "random forest". In the results, patients and controls were well matched. The CFS patients almost all had PEM. 26 cytokines were found to decline with age. 4 had differences between males and females: Leptin. IL-1alpha, ENA78 and resistan.

15 cytokines behaved differently in CFS compared to controls. 13 out of the 15 were significant differences, and these were the pro-inflammatory cytokines. Mild cases tend to fall below the controls, severe cases tend to fall above the controls.

Activation of B-cells suggests the possibility of autoimmune disease.

IL-17 is associated with psoriasis, IBD, Arthritis and MS. Leptin and resistan are associated with female sex. Lowered TGF-beta is associated with duration of illness—it is a powerful anti-inflammatory cytokine, whose capacity gets lost. The body thus feels inflamed.