NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Veterans of the Persian Gulf War diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or idiopathic chronic fatigue may be more likely than nonaffected veterans and the general population to have a polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene, according to a new study.
Chronic fatigue syndrome that occurs in the general population is often associated with sudden onset, whereas that in Gulf War veterans tends to begin gradually, Dr. Georgirene D. Vladutiu and Benjamin H. Natelson explain in their report in the July issue of Muscle and Nerve.
The symptoms of chronic fatigue resemble the myopathies that accompany mutations in the myoadenylate deaminase gene (AMPD1) and the carnitine palmitoyltransferase gene (CPT2). The insertion/insertion genotype of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene, DCP1, has been linked to enhanced endurance and performance in athletes, whereas the insertion/deletion polymorphism is involved in cardiovascular adaptation to exercise, so the authors hypothesized that its role in fatigue may be important in chronic fatigue syndrome.
They therefore examined DNA sequences in the AMPD1, DCP1 and CPT2 genes of 49 Gulf War veterans and 61 nonveterans with chronic fatigue, as well as 30 healthy Gulf War veterans and 45 healthy nonveterans.
The four groups did not differ in polymorphisms in AMPD1 or CPT2. However, veterans with the deletion/deletion genotype of DCP1 were 8 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue compared with veterans with the II genotype. Affected veterans were also less likely to have an insertion allele (odds ratio 5.08). Those in the nonveteran cohorts did not differ significantly from each other or from the healthy veteran group.
There may thus be “an interaction between these genetic polymorphisms and some factor unique to deployment to the Persian Gulf,” such as vaccine exposures and wartime stressors, the authors write.
These findings need to be replicated before any definite conclusion scan be drawn, the authors note, and the association should be examined in British veterans of the first Gulf War, those in the current Iraqi war, and those involved in conflicts in other areas of the world.
Dr. Vladutiu is based at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Dr. Natelson at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in East Orange.
Source: Muscle Nerve 2004;29. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Genetic Techniques: Investigative Techniques: Persons: Veterans: Sequence Analysis: Sequence Analysis, DNA: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: PersonsCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
