Cytokine Found that May Cause "Brain Fog" in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome!



    A new study in Molecular Psychiatry suggests that the "brain fog" and some of the peripheral effects in chronic fatigue syndrome is due to high levels of a protein called eotaxin. Eotaxin is also "known as  C-C motif chemokine 11 and is encoded by the CCL11 gene." (1) Note, this protein has also been found to be elevated in patients with fibromyalgia (3) and it seems, it is just another way these two conditions overlap. During the study, Dr. Hornig, M.D. states she did not find elevated levels of the cytokine IL-1 which supports other studies that have previously been published.  John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity, W. Ian Lipkin, claims these results further the "hope that new diagnostic tests and therapies will be developed for diseases where cytokine imbalances are present." In addition, "this study is a precedent for how monoclonal antibodies can be used to regulate the immune response in a variety of different diseases." (2)  One critic of the study said "whilst this finding that some patients with CFS/ME have an immune abnormality is potentially interesting, we should treat it with great caution" because "this type of study (a case-control study) is notorious for producing findings that other researchers subsequently fail to replicate. Along these lines, Dr. Derek Hill,CEO of IXICO and Professor of Medical Imaging Science, UCL, commented that "discovering a biomarker and turning it into a diagnostic test is as complex as getting developing and distributing an new drug!"(5)
     The cytokine is also known to be elevated in patients that are obese and when they lost weight the levels of eotaxin decreased. One study reported levels of eotaxin were increased in asthmatics with Nrf2 deficiency and increased oxidative stress.  Villeda reports that eotaxin was elevated in aging healthy humans and was associated in a decrease in neurogenesis and associated with cognitive impairment. In young mice, the elevation of the protein was correlated with impaired learning and memory. (4)


1.CCL11. Wipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCL11

2. Scientists find clues into cognitive dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome (31 March 2015) by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13566701?citation_format=plain

3. High plasma levels of MCP-1 and eotaxin provide evidence for an immunological basis of fibromyalgia. Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.), Vol. 233, No. 9. (1 September 2008), pp. 1171-1180, doi:10.3181/0712-rm-328 by Zhifang Zhang, Gregory Cherryholmes, Allen Mao, et al. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/4505840

4. The ageing systemic milieu negatively regulates neurogenesis and cognitive function. Nature, Vol. 477, No. 7362. (1 September 2011), pp. 90-94, doi:10.1038/nature10357 by Saul A. Villeda, Jian Luo, Kira I. Mosher, et al. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/9730866

5. Expert reaction to biomarkers for CFS/ME (27 February 2015) by Science Media Center. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13566868