Habib 2002: Altered Plasma Stress Hormones during Treadmill Exercise testing in CFS

[Dolphin]

The following doesn't show up in PubMed and doesn't seem to get mentioned in the CFS literature. It looks like it was a government funded study

http://www.endo-society.org/media/2002-research-summaries/upload/2002_research_summary.doc

P1-389 News Summary

New evidence adds to existing clues for solving the mystery of chronic fatigue syndrome

New data indicate that the secretion and metabolism of adrenaline and other hormones of the sympathetic nervous system is aberrant in females with chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a study being presented on Wednesday, June 19, at The Endocrine Societys 84th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disabling condition of unknown causes and is treated empirically with limited success. Previous data have shown that there is inadequate secretion of the stress hormone cortisol in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. The nature of the interaction among different stress hormones and the metabolism of adrenaline in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome has not been studied, however.

Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Md., subjected 10 females with chronic fatigue syndrome and 26 matched healthy females to graded treadmill exercise and studied the interrelation among different stress hormones and their metabolites. This model provides a quantifiable dose-dependent activation of the stress hormones, which permitted reliable comparisons between different groups.

The study, led by Dr. Kamal E. Habibof the NIMH, revealed significant differences between females with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy females, in terms of their hormonal responses to stress.

This study was conducted as part of authors official duties at the NIMH and USUHS. No external funding was provided.

Glucocorticoids

P1-389

Altered Interrelation among Plasma Stress Hormones during Treadmill Exercise in Females with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Kamal E Habib*1, Andre B Negrao1, Mariko R Yasuda1, Patricia Deuster2, Philip W Gold1. 1Clinal Neuroendocrinology Br, NIMH, Bethesda, MD; 2Sports Med, USUHS, Bethesda, MD.

We subjected both healthy (n = 26, age = 40+/-8, BMI = 23+/-2, mean +/- SD) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS; n = 10, age = 42 +/-6, BMI = 24 +/-5, mean +/- SD) females to treadmill exercise at 0, 50, 70 and 90% of their maximal oxygen consumption.

Venous blood samples were collected at -10, 10, 20, 30 & 40 minutes of starting exercise.

No difference in plasma lactate or glucose levels was observed between controls and CFS subjects, suggesting that both groups reached an equal degree of metabolic stress.

Plasma samples were assayed for ACTH, cortisol, Epi, NE, DOPA, DA, DOPAC and DHPG, and a multiple regression analysis was conducted.

In controls, ACTH was positively and tightly correlated with cortisol ( t = 5.869, p = .0001) and NE (t = 3.982, p = .0001) and negatively with DHPG (t = -2.086, p = .039).

In CFS patients, while the +ve correlation between ACTH and cortisol was retained (t = 2.658, p = .011), ACTH correlation with Epi was lost and that with DHPG was reversed (t = 3.488, p = .001). Unlike controls, ACTH negatively correlated with DOPAC ( t = - 3.58, p = .001) in CFS patients.

While cortisol correlated significantly and positively with DOPA (t = 2.394, p = .018), DA (t = 3.104, p = .002) and DOPAC (t = 3.98, p = .0001) in healthy females, its significant correlation with DOPA and DA was lost, and that with DOPAC was reversed (-2.848, p = .007). Additionally, cortisol negatively correlated with NE in CFS females (t = -2.299, p = .026).

The significant and positive correlation between Epi and both NE (t = 4.623, p = .0001) and DHPG (t = 2.441, p = .016) in controls was retained in CFS [(t = 3.377, p = .001) and (t = 2.231, p = .031), respectively].

Likewise, NE significant positive correlation with DA (t = 5.159, p = .0001) and its negative correlation with DOPAC (t = -3.237, p = .001) in controls was retained in CFS [(t = 2.1, p = .041) and (t = - 3.309, p = .002), respectively].

These data indicate significant abnormalities in the interaction between the sympathetic-adrenal limb and the HPA limb of the stress system in CFS.

In the light of data showing significant impairment of the HPA responses to stress in CFS, we suggest that abnormal catecholamine metabolism contributes to deficient stress system responses in patients with CFS.

Clinical Poster: Glucocorticoids (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM and 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM)

Presentation Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Glucocorticoids