Association of chronic fatigue syndrome with premature telomere attrition

Abstract

BackgroundChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a severely debilitating condition of unknown etiology. The symptoms and risk factors of ME/CFS share features of accelerated aging implicated in several diseases. Using telomere length as a marker, this study was performed to test the hypothesis that ME/CFS is associated with accelerated aging.MethodsParticipant (n = 639) data came from the follow-up time point of the Georgia CFS surveillance study. Using the 1994 CFS Research Case Definition with questionnaire-based subscale thresholds for fatigue, function, and symptoms, participants were classified into four illness groups: CFS if all criteria were met (n = 64), CFS-X if CFS with exclusionary conditions (n = 77), ISF (insufficient symptoms/fatigue) if only some criteria were met regardless of exclusionary conditions (n = 302), and NF (non-fatigued) if no criteria and no exclusionary conditions (n = 196). Relative telomere length (T/S ratio) was measured using DNA from whole blood and real-time PCR. General linear models were used to estimate the association of illness groups or T/S ratio with demographics, biological measures and covariates with significance set at p < 0.05.ResultsThe mean T/S ratio differed significantly by illness group (p = 0.0017); the T/S ratios in CFS (0.90 ± 0.03) and ISF (0.94 ± 0.02) were each significantly lower than in NF (1.06 ± 0.04). Differences in T/S ratio by illness groups remained significant after adjustment for covariates of age, sex, body mass index, waist–hip ratio, post-exertional malaise and education attainment. Telomere length was shorter by 635, 254 and 424 base pairs in CFS, CFS-X and ISF, respectively, compared to NF. This shorter telomere length translates to roughly 10.1–20.5, 4.0–8.2 and 6.6–13.7 years of additional aging in CFS, CFS-X and ISF compared to NF respectively. Further, stratified analyses based on age and sex demonstrated that the association of ME/CFS with short telomeres is largely moderated by female subjects < 45 years old.ConclusionsThis study found a significant association of ME/CFS with premature telomere attrition that is largely moderated by female subjects < 45 years old. Our results indicate that ME/CFS could be included in the list of conditions associated with accelerated aging. Further work is needed to evaluate the functional significance of accelerated aging in ME/CFS.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12967-018-1414-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The mediation role of work-life balance stress and chronic fatigue in the relationship between workaholism and depression among Chinese male workers in Hong Kong

“…Descriptive statistics were computed for participants' background characteristics. As a number of studies (e.g., (Perez-Lopez et al, 2014;Rajeevan, Murray, Oakley, Lin, & Unger, 2018)) did, we used the continuous variables of fatigue and depression in our analyses. Pearson's correlation analyses were performed to test the significance of the relationships between workaholism, stress, fatigue, and depression.…”

Can the light of immunometabolism cut through “brain fog”?

“…CD8 + cells as a whole also had reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (14). Patterns of metabolic dysfunction in CD4 + and CD8 + T cells overlapped only partially with features of immunosenescence and immune exhaustion and could CFS, particularly among women younger than 45 years (19). Although different T cell subsets (e.g., exhaustion-prone CD8 + T cell subsets, as in chronic viral infection) might have driven this finding, the studies used DNA derived from whole blood, not isolated immune cells.…”

A Proposed New Model to Explain the Role of Low Dose Non-DNA Targeted Radiation Exposure in Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome

“…Conversely, some literature data suggest that, to potentially lead to a cancer progression, the exposure to stress should be repeated, chronic but with some periods of non-stress to permit cells to propagate errors and to bypass cell cycle arrests. In this regard, research at the CDC has identified premature telomere attrition in CFIDS patients [ 108 ]. The telomere length was shorter, and this translated to roughly 10+ years of additional aging in patients.…”