Are T-cell activation markers present on a higher number of immune cells in CFS patients?
One study showed that the CD8 T-cell subpopulation contained an increased number of cells expressing the activation markers CD38 and HLA-DR in a subset of CFS patients who were very ill. This finding was true for a large proportion of CFS patients (90%), but only a small fraction of healthy controls (10%). However, similar shifts in the expression of activation markers have been observed for various acute viral infections and would be expected of any active infection. The usefulness of activation markers in diagnosing CFS remains to be established. Could elevated levels of serum cytokines indicate CFS? One of the more intriguing theories about the cause of CFS is that one of a number of possible “triggering events” results in a chronic activation of the immune system in these patients. If this theory is correct, one or more serum cytokine levels of CFS patients may be more elevated than those of healthy controls. Such results have been reported anecdotally for interleukin-1, for exampl
