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Elevated plasma biomarkers of chronic inflammation in Gulf War illness (591.3)

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
This is from April 2014, but I've not seen it before...

Elevated plasma biomarkers of chronic inflammation in Gulf War illness (591.3)
Gerhard Johnson, Billie Slater, Linda Leis and Ronald Bach.
April 2014
The FASEB Journal
http://www.fasebj.org/content/28/1_Supplement/591.3.short

Abstract
As many as 200,000 veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War suffer from unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses collectively known as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Symptoms of GWI may include muscle and joint pain, unexplained fatigue, and cognitive impairment. The etiology of GWI is undetermined, and no effective treatment has been defined.

Objective: To determine if blood abnormalities exist in veterans with GWI that could lead to the identification of potential therapeutic targets.

Methods: Eighty-five gulf war veterans were enrolled. Subjects with GWI were identified by standard (CDC-10) criteria. Data derived from subjects with GWI (58) were compared to those without GWI (27). Multi-Analyte Profiling of plasma proteins was performed and analyzed by the Mann-Whitney rank sum test.

Results: Five of 89 proteins were significantly elevated (p<0.05) in the GWI subjects: C-reactive protein (CRP) (1.75-fold), leptin (1.67-fold), interleukin-1 beta (1.66-fold), brain-derived neurotropic factor (1.59-fold), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (1.14-fold). The 14 individuals in this study with the highest CRP levels, as much as 10-fold above the median, were all in the GWI group.

Conclusion: The biomarker evidence is consistent with activation of the innate immune system. It supports the hypothesis that chronic inflammation is a component of GWI pathophysiology.
 
Last edited:
Messages
759
Location
Israel
Gulf War illness is put here as a separate illness to ME/CFS. I wonder if it is the same thing.
If not, then it must be very similar.
 

Seven7

Seven
Messages
3,444
Location
USA
What I understand is that the cytokines profile of gws is different than those w Cfs but I do not know specific markers, I do remember one person in pR saying that Klimas told her she looked more like a gws patient more than Cfs. I forgot who that was by now. But if you look for Klimas videos she talks about differences and similarities.
 

morse27

Senior Member
Messages
123
Location
NORTH of FRANCE
i have the "war gulf illness" , i try RITUXAN treatment for ME/CFS , 3 infusions since december, i received "squalen" adjuvant in vaccine , difference with CFS/ME for mens : impotence , paresthesia in hands for 18 months, anti bodies to squalen (pamela Asa , Tulane school ) , no deep sleep (N3 and N4) ,totall insomnia, gastro intestinal disorder with strongly SIBO test after 45 minutes, i have not NK cell low level , but high : CD16 + CD56 at 26% ( 4 - 25% normal), CD3 + cells at 826 (low) , so , if i have a good response with Rituximab, it will be possible to cure all war gulf veterans with this syndrom , nancy klymas think WGV are different with ME/CFS patients , but WGI mens and womens are different in bio markers !! i have to wait at least 3 month to know if it will be good for us !
 

morse27

Senior Member
Messages
123
Location
NORTH of FRANCE
i've received today an information from my scientist in USA who treat all ME/CFS in the world , with rituxan and other treatment, .....so, i 've not blood markers know in all patients with ME!! , i've have just SIBO test strongly positive than other sick ME people. but not common bio marker in blood test, he wrote me, i've and other auto immune illness in relation with the vaccine and squalene adjuvant, its a scoop for all veterans in USA , i'm the life prove than this illness is the result of the squalene vaccine , the same adjuvant in antrax vaccine for many soldiers used on first gulf war all hypothesis with pesticide , virgil or organosphosphate are faulse !!,thinking than a lot of vaccin can start this illness is not possible, just one vaccine running it on me, so i hope to contact a specialist in this illness , i'm going in USA in may ....if they understand than the trigger is the squalene i think this information done many way for research treatment , i know nancy klimas , but is there other scientist who search treatment for these soldiers ? did you know ?
 

Marco

Grrrrrrr!
Messages
2,386
Location
Near Cognac, France
Beatrice Golomb is more of a researcher than a clinician but focuses on oxidative stress/mitochondrial dysfunction :

Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Injury in Chronic Multisymptom Conditions:
From Gulf War Illness to Autism Spectrum Disorder


http://precedings.nature.com/documents/6847/version/1/files/npre20126847-1.pdf

Coenzyme Q10 Helps Veterans Battle Gulf War Illness Symptoms

Eighty percent of treated veterans improved physical function

https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2014-11-03-CoQ10-helps-gulf-war-illness-symptoms.aspx
 

wdb

Senior Member
Messages
1,392
Location
London
Five of 89 proteins were significantly elevated (p<0.05)

Am I missing something or of this a bit of a weak study. For a p value of <0.05 by pure chance alone you'd expect a false positive rate of 1 in 20 , so 5 out of 89 would not be inconsistent with chance alone.
 

morse27

Senior Member
Messages
123
Location
NORTH of FRANCE
I give you my doctor wrote to the USA, which meets on my personal case, his experience on patients ME / CFS is strong in terms of biomarker analysis, if it says I have nothing common with the other patients, my concern is that since this vaccination are sound today, who else had this experience on ME / CFS I am disgusted to learn today, his email :

Yvon you are asking excellent questions.
I will try to answer simply and briefly. Your repeat NK was even higher and not at all consistent with our usual results in ME patients. Your ADH/vasopressin was normal. Your viral antibodies have not been very high.
So, with the exception of your positive testing for SIBO, you do not fit the typical picture of our CFS/ME patients. I suspect you are correct and your illness results from the vaccine and adjuvant you received causing chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction. I do think that it is possible that the rituxan may still be helpful since the end result of the inflammation/immune dysfunction is NOT unlike what we see in our CFS patients.
Hope this is helpful. I know it's all very frustrating.
 

picante

Senior Member
Messages
829
Location
Helena, MT USA
Gulf War illness is put here as a separate illness to ME/CFS. I wonder if it is the same thing.
If not, then it must be very similar.

@morse27 - Yvon, this chart was posted in another discussion recently by Kina.

Toxic times – exposure to multiple chemicals
index.php
 

picante

Senior Member
Messages
829
Location
Helena, MT USA
Yvon's case is especially strange, since he was not in the Gulf War. He is a French civilian who had the H1N1 vaccine with the squalene adjuvant in 2009. That is why he says:

i'm the life prove than this illness is the result of the squalene vaccine , the same adjuvant in antrax vaccine for many soldiers used on first gulf war all hypothesis with pesticide , virgil or organosphosphate are faulse !!

[I'm the living proof that this illness is the result of the squalene-adjuvanted vaccine ... All hypotheses concerning pesticides, virgil, and organophosphates are false.]
virgil? (Yvon, what is that? Vous pouvez me répondre par messagerie.)

The really odd thing is that Yvon's diagnosis of Gulf War Syndrome was given by doctors at GlaxoSmithKline (the vaccine manufacturer!!), who examined him. Did they perform lab tests, Yvon?

Also, did the doctors at the OMI in California give you any opinion on the GWS diagnosis? They say you don't fit the usual ME/CFS profile because of your NK cell count. But did they think that Gulf War Syndrome was accurate? Your doctor says this, at least:
I suspect you are correct and your illness results from the vaccine and adjuvant you received causing chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction.
 

morse27

Senior Member
Messages
123
Location
NORTH of FRANCE
The safety monitoring service (pharmacovigilance) of GSK laboratory France, represented by Dr. Ema Karl, interviewed me for nearly an hour about the effects of the Pandemrix vaccine, and with no hesitation gave me the "Gulf War Syndrome" diagnosis. Actually, she told me that many such cases had been diagnosed worldwide in connection with this type of vaccine (Pandremrix or Arepanrix H1N1 with the AS03 squalene adjuvant, the same lipid molecule as the one used in the Novartis anthrax vaccine with the MF59 squalene adjuvant.

You might wonder why there were more victims in the army than among the civilians who received H1N1. The reason is simple: the civilians received only one dose of squalene adjuvant, while the soldiers received 3 successive vaccines. The ones who had strong, reactive immune systems produced anti-squalene auto-antibodies.

In response to my concerns that my lab tests were not giving the usual ME/CFS results, the doctor I'm seeing for Rituximab treatment told me that my blood test markers absolutely do not match those of his patients who respond to Rituximab. He said that my illness is indeed connected to this kind of vaccine, but that it is in no way comparable to ME.

I'm disgusted that I began this difficult and costly treatment to no avail, and that the research will never get done on an illness that affects 300,000 people worldwide. However, I think that my experience should serve to confirm the cause of illness for the soldiers who took part in "Desert Storm" in 1991.

thks "picante" for your help in good translation !
 

nandixon

Senior Member
Messages
1,092
In response to my concerns that my lab tests were not giving the usual ME/CFS results, the doctor I'm seeing for Rituximab treatment told me that my blood test markers absolutely do not match those of his patients who respond to Rituximab. He said that my illness is indeed connected to this kind of vaccine, but that it is in no way comparable to ME.

I'm disgusted that I began this difficult and costly treatment to no avail, and that the research will never get done on an illness that affects 300,000 people worldwide. However, I think that my experience should serve to confirm the cause of illness for the soldiers who took part in "Desert Storm" in 1991.

thks "picante" for your help in good translation !
I'm not sure, but there may be a misunderstanding here. When the OMI doctor says:

I do think that it is possible that the rituxan may still be helpful since the end result of the inflammation/immune dysfunction is NOT unlike what we see in our CFS patients.

He means that even though you probably don't have ME/CFS, the rituximab treatment might still work for you because the end result of your disease is like what is seen in his ME/CFS patients. ("Not unlike" means "like" - it's what is known as a "double negative.") So I think it's too soon to think that your treatment was to "no avail."

@picante, when the OMI doctor says:

Your repeat NK was even higher and not at all consistent with our usual results in ME patients. Your ADH/vasopressin was normal.

I'm pretty sure "NK" is referring to natural killer cell function/activity, rather than count. I believe that low NK cell function and low vasopressin (ADH) are the two most common abnormalities the OMI finds in their ME/CFS patients.
 

picante

Senior Member
Messages
829
Location
Helena, MT USA
("Not unlike" means "like" - it's what is known as a "double negative.") So I think it's too soon to think that your treatment was to "no avail."
I never thought to explain this, Nan! Good catch. Yvon, you could also say it's "not really different".

I'm pretty sure "NK" is referring to natural killer cell function/activity, rather than count. I believe that low NK cell function and low vasopressin (ADH) are the two most common abnormalities the OMI finds in their ME/CFS patients.

I know absolutely nothing about this, but Yvon said in a private message that his is high:
"CD16+CD56 à 26% high"
And his doctor says "Your repeat NK was even higher and not at all consistent with our usual results in ME patients."

Yvon, I agree that your doctor appears hopeful that the Rituximab will be effective because your SIBO, your inflammation and your immune dysfunction are things that Rituximab can often help. After all, it's a drug that's used for other illnesses, not just ME/CFS.
 

morse27

Senior Member
Messages
123
Location
NORTH of FRANCE
i hope it can improve my illness, i continue this treatment , if it offer good result , a hope for this veterans of the first war gulf, and i see recently than squalene has been used in afganistan war for soldiers vaccines!! in fact many soldiers with PTSD are not psychological patients , but they have the same illness, the war gulf illness is classified in a new syndrom since 2010 : the ASIA syndrom by yehuda shoenfeld , auto immune syndrom induce by adjuvant , i have call this scientist a year ago to know how pake a diagnose, what sort of treatment is able for this patient......he says me : IVIG therapy is used for a long time with modest benefits. i explain him , this idea to use RITUXIMAB bio therapie for this illness , for him its a very stong treatment , dangerous.....no able for ASIA syndrom, yehuda shoenfeld is a scietist in auto immune disease in israel. i'll contact this scientist again, to inform him than rituxan give some little benefits after 6 years of illness .i saw than symptoms decreased in reverse order after 4 month , in see in all project in relation with WGI studies than RITUXIMAB is a clinical trial for veterans , but i dont know , where and when it will be start in USA .
i think WGI need more infusion rituxan than ME to observe more benefits , i can compar my illness with a young woman of 32 years with severe ME , she had an adnormal pet scan with spinal cord and brain inflamation, she try now rituxan therapy . i can see many difference in his illness , she had zero ACTH brain hormon in blood and classic SPOT unable to stay up , in WGI its not common, the major difference is in gastrointestinal disorder , for mens impotence for all , i never heard in ME/CFS community the same problem for mens .the kina chart post by picante is clear , all this diseases have the same symptom, and i know other similar symptom disease : eg : neuro sarcoidosis, auto immune illness , thanks for your interest , yvon
 

picante

Senior Member
Messages
829
Location
Helena, MT USA
Yvon has asked for any help I can provide with language, so here goes. He has been looking for input here on PR, but hasn't gotten much, as it's hard to read his posts:

i hope it can improve my illness. I'm continuing this treatment, and if it offers good results, a hope for this veterans of the first gulf war. Also, i saw recently that squalene has been used in afganistan war for soldiers' vaccines!!

In fact many soldiers with PTSD are not psychological patients -- they have the same illness. Gulf war illness has been classified as a new syndrome since 2010: the ASIA syndrome (by yehuda shoenfeld), an auto immune syndrome induced by adjuvant.

I called this scientist a year ago to find out how make a diagnosis, and what sort of treatment is able for these patients......He told me IVIG therapy is used for a long time with modest benefits.

I explained the idea of using RITUXIMAB bio therapy for this illness, and he considers it a very strong treatment, dangerous.....[not suitable?] for ASIA syndrome.

Yehuda shoenfeld is a scientist in auto immune disease in Israel. I'll contact him again, to inform him that rituxan has provided me some little benefits after 6 years of illness. My symptoms started decreasing in reverse order after 4 months of treatment.

I see in relation to GWI studies that RITUXIMAB is proposed as a clinical trial for veterans, but i dont know, where and when it will be started in the USA. I think patients with GWI may need more infusions of rituxan than those with ME to observe more benefits.

I can compare my illness with a young woman of 32 years with severe ME: she had an abnormal PET scan with spinal cord and brain inflamation, and she's now trying rituxan therapy. I see many differences between her illness and mine. She had zero ACTH brain hormone in blood and classic SPOT [POTS?] unable to stay up. This is not common in GWI.

The major difference [in GWI] is gastrointestinal disorder, and impotence in all men. I've never heard of the impotence problem in the ME/CFS community. Kina's chart (posted by picante) is clear: all these diseases have the same symptoms, and I know of other similar diseases, such as neuro sarcoidosis and auto immune illnesses.

Thanks for your interest, yvon