TITLE:
Enhanced Gene Expression Following Vaccination in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
AUTHORS:
Ekua W. Brenu, Gunn M. Atkinson, Mieke L. van Driel, Sanne Kreijkamp-Kaspers, Don R. Staines, Sonya M. Marshall-Gradisnik
KEYWORDS:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Perforin; Granzymes; Cytokines
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Clinical Medicine,
Vol.4 No.3,
March
28,
2013
ABSTRACT: Vaccines have been shown to
cause differential expression of genes and increase antibody titers against
antigens. Influenza
vaccines may have an effect on unexplained disorders such as Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). Immunological changes have been
identified following immunization with trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV). The objective of this pilot study
was to examine the consequences of TIV on cytokine and cytotoxic genes in
CFS/ME. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were preferentially isolated from
whole blood of 7 CFS/ME patients and 8
controls. Following total RNA extraction and synthesis of cDNA, reverse
transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to
determine the expression levels of mRNAs for cytotoxic genes (perforin (PRF1), granzyme A (GZMA), granzyme B (GZMB)
and cytokine genes. GZMB was significantly increased overall in the CFS/ME
patients compared to the controls. GZMA was significantly increased 28 days after vaccination while PRF1 was reduced prevaccination but
increased 14 days post-vaccination in the CFS/ME patients. There were no significant changes in cytokine
genes pre or post vaccination. Administration of TIV may increase the expression of
lytic genes in CFS/ME and this may contribute to the increase in cytotoxic
activity we observed in these patients post vaccination.