Pitfalls In Cytokine Measurements – Plasma TGF-Β1 In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

[John Mac]

RESULTS: 50 patients and 48 controls were included in cohort I, and 90 patients and 29 controls in cohort II. Within the cohorts there were no differences in TGF-β1 concentrations. However, between the cohorts there was a large discrepancy, which appeared to be caused by differences in g-force of the centrifuges used. The lower g-force used in cohort II (1361 g) caused more platelet activation, reflected by higher p-selectin concentrations, compared to cohort I (p < 0.0001), which was confirmed in a second independent experiment. There was a correlation between TGF-β1 and p-selectin concentrations (r 0.79, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that control of pre-analytical procedures is an essential aspect when measuring circulating cytokines. No evidence for enhanced TGF-β1 in patients with CFS was found.

Warning: It's co-authored by Knoop & van der Meer.

https://www.prohealth.com/library/p...-plasma-tgf-β1-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-86479

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

This is a very old story. Essentially it says 'a badly controlled study was done about ten years ago and because the result does not suit us we want to make sure we publish this fact, even if it has taken us ten years to get the paper accepted'.

The point that you have to treat test and control samples the same is not something that needs to be put in a paper. It should be known to every lab scientist. If lab scientists choose to forget it it is unlikely that a paper like this will make any difference.