Salivary gland changes in chronic fatigue syndrome: A case-controlled preliminary histologic study

Objective. The purpose of this preliminary study is to compare labial saliv ary gland changes of 11 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome with control subjects. Study design. Changes in labial salivary glands were graded from 0 to 3+ fo r acinar dilatation, ductal dilatation, periductal fibrosis, plasmacytic in filtrate, lymphocytic infiltrate, mast cell infiltrate, and lymphocytic agg regates or foci. Results. Four of the 11 subjects had 2+ to 3+ changes in at least 4 of the 7 parameters examined. Only the presence of mast cells was statistically si gnificant between the 2 groups. Two of these 4 patients had 1 lymphocytic f ocus per 4 mm(2) of tissue. Conclusions. The salivary gland changes in patients with chronic fatigue sy ndrome show varying degrees of ductal and acinar dilatation, periductal fib rosis, lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates, and occasional lymphocytic foci, all suggestive of primary gland damage. The one parameter that showed statistic al significance was the presence of mast cells (Fisher exact test, 0.0125).