"Low NK Cell Activity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Relationship to Symptom Severity"

[Kyla]

http://www.omicsonline.org/open-acc...hip-to-symptom-severity-2155-9899-1000348.pdf
(Open access)

Low NK Cell Activity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Relationship to
Symptom Severity
David Strayer*, Victoria Scott and William Carter
1617 JFK Boulevard, Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA
*Correspondig author: David Strayer, 1617 JFK Boulevard, Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA, Tel: + 215-988-0080; Fax: + 215-988-1739; E-mail:
annmarie@hemispherx.net
Received date: April 29, 2015; Accepted date: July 22, 2015; Published date: July 29, 2015
Copyright: © 2015 Strayer D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unr

Abstract
Background: Natural killer (NK) cells act as an immune surveillance against invading pathogens and tumors. NK cell cytotoxicity (NKCC) has been reported to be decreased in patients with CFS.
Methods: The objective of this review was to conduct an analysis of available publications that reported NKCC data in CFS in order to evaluate any relationships to case definitions used to define CFS and symptom severity.

Results: Of 17 studies that evaluated NKCC in patients with CFS, defined using the CDC 1988 and/or 1994 case definition (CD), 88% (15/17) concluded that NKCC was decreased in CFS patients compared to normal controls.
The NKCC decrease was seen using two established methods, 51Cr release (11/13) and flow cytometry (4/4). The mean percent decrease in NKCC using the CDC 1988 CD (66.3%) was significantly greater than that using the CDC 1994 CD (49.7%) (p<0.01). This result is consistent with that of six publications showing a greater decrease in NKCC associated with increased CFS symptom severity based on the lower symptom requirement for the CDC 1994 vs. 1988 CD. In contrast, there was no significant difference in the mean percent decrease in NKCC seen comparing the CDC 1994 CD defined population using the 51Cr release (48.3%) vs. flow cytometry (50.7%) assays (p>0.5). Finally, seven studies investigating the ability of various agents to augment NKCC in patients with CFS showed increases of NKCC with both in vitro exposure (4/5) and in vivo exposure using randomized trials (2/2).

Conclusions: Low NKCC is commonly seen in CFS and is associated with increase symptom severity.

 

[Kyla]

Now we just need someone to do this sort of review for every other finding in ME.
Ie - compare findings based on disease definition and differences in methodology.

I think this would be a game changer in terms of figuring out which findings are consistent.

 

[Bob]

I wonder why we didn't spot this when it was published in July.

It could be the Hemispherx-sponsored review paper that we were expecting.

Hemispherx are also supposed to be publishing the results of their latest Ampligen/NKCC/CFS research, in about a month's time, according to a tweet about their recent press conference that I came across yesterday.

 

[Kyla]

I wonder why we didn't spot this when it was published in July.

It could be the Hemispherx-sponsored review paper that we were expecting.

Hemispherx are also supposed to be publishing the results of their latest Ampligen/NKCC/CFS research, in about a month's time, according to a tweet about their recent press conference that I came across yesterday.

I wondered the same thing @Bob
It popped up in a google scholar alert from last night, as if it had just been published online. (Or at least just been indexed).
And yes, I think this is the ampligen sponsored paper

 

[Bob]

Short news article about the review:

Hemispherx Biopharma Reports Low NK Cell Activity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Relationship to Disease Symptoms
Ampligen(R) Increases NK Activity More Than 100% in Vitro in a CFS Patient Population
http://globenewswire.com/news-relea...CFS-and-Relationship-to-Disease-Symptoms.html