<<snip>>
The results of these reports suggest that some patients with CFS should
be treated with specific antioxidants, including zinc supplements
<<snip>>
1: J Affect Disord. 2005 Dec 7; [Epub ahead of print] Links
Lower serum zinc in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Relationships to
immune dysfunctions and relevance for the oxidative stress status in
CFS.
Maes M, Mihaylova I, De Ruyter M.
M-Care4U Outpatient Clinics, Olmenlaan 9, 2610 Antwerp-Wilrijk,
Belgium; Clinical Research Center for Mental Health, Olmenlaan 9,
Wilrijk, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville TN, USA.
The present study examines serum zinc concentrations in patients with
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) versus normal volunteers. Serum zinc
levels were determined by means of an atomic absorption method. We
found that serum zinc was significantly lower in the CFS patients than
in the normal controls. There was a trend toward a significant negative
correlation between serum zinc and the severity of CFS and there was a
significant and negative correlation between serum zinc and the
subjective experience of infection. We found that serum zinc was
significantly and negatively correlated to the increase in the alpha2
protein fraction and positively correlated to decreases in the
expression of mitogen-induced CD69+ (a T cell activation marker) on
CD3+ as well as CD3+CD8+ T cells. These results show that CFS is
accompanied by a low serum zinc status and that the latter is related
to signs of inflammation and defects in early T cell activation
pathways. Since zinc is a strong anti-oxidant, the present results
further support the findings that CFS is accompanied by increased
oxidative stress. The results of these reports suggest that some
patients with CFS should be treated with specific antioxidants,
including zinc supplements.
PMID: 16338007 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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