HORMONAL INFLUENCES ON STRESS-INDUCED NEUTROPHIL MOBILIZATION IN HEALTH AND CHRONIC-FATIGUE-SYNDROME

This investigation tested the hypotheses that women diagnosed with chr onic fatigue syndrome (CFS) would exhibit significantly greater system ic indices of exercise-induced leukocyte mobilization and inflammation (neutrophilia, lactoferrin release, complement activation) than contr ols matched for age, weight, and habitual activity and that responses in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle would be greater than in th e follicular phase. Subjects stepped up and down on a platform adjuste d to the height of the patella for 15 min, paced by metronome. Blood s amples were collected under basal conditions (the day before exercise) and following exercise for determination of circulating neutrophils a nd plasma concentrations of lactoferrin, C3a des arg, and creatine kin ase. Complete, 24-hr urine collections were made for determination of cortisol excretion. For all subjects, circulating neutrophil counts in creased 33% (P < 0.0001) and lactoferrin increased 27% (P = 0.0006) af ter exercise, whereas plasma C3a des arg and creatine kinase did not i ncrease. No indication of an exaggerated or excessive response was obs erved in the CFS patients compared to the controls. In healthy women, circulating neutrophil numbers exhibited previously described relation ships with physiological variables: basal neutrophil counts correlated with plasma progesterone concentrations (R = 0.726, P = 0.003) and th e exercise-induced neutrophilia correlated with both urinary cortisol (R = 0.660, P = 0.007) and plasma creatine kinase (R = 0.523, P = 0.03 8) concentrations. These relationships were not observed in the CFS pa tients (R = 0.240, P = 0.370; R = 0.042, P = 0.892; and R = 0.293, P = 0.270; respectively). These results suggest that normal endocrine inf luences on the circulating neutrophil pool may be disrupted in patient s with CFS.