Up-regulation of TGF-β1 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract

It has been shown that the abnormality in immune cells in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients is closely associated with the participation of TGF-β. In order to study the relationship between TGF-β1 and CFS, we investigated the mRNA levels of TGF-β1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with CFS. Methods: Fluorescent quantitative real time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (FQ-RT-PCR) was performed to test TGF-β1 mRNA expression in PBMCs in 63 cases of CFS, 50 cases of disease controls, and 50 cases of healthy controls. Results: The mean value of TGF-β1 mRNA expression in CFS patients was ΔΔCt=1.17±0.58, which was significantly higher than the disease controls (ΔΔCt=0.07±1.08, df=111, p 0.05). Conclusion: The expression of TGF-β1 in PBMCs is significantly elevated in patients with CFS. It might be correlated to the pathogenesis of the disease.

Keywords

• chronic fatigue syndrome
• polymerase chain reaction
• TGF-β1
• transforming growth factor beta 1