SOME types of chronic fatigue may be caused by a defect in a protein that
binds to the stress hormone cortisol.
Fourteen members of a family with a mutation that knocks out the protein,
called cortisol-binding globulin, suffered from severe unexplained fatigue for
more than six months, says David Torpy of the University of Queensland in
Brisbane. Three others had the mutation but no fatigue. Surprisingly, five also
had a second, less damaging mutation that had previously been linked to chronic
fatigue, he told the 11th International Congress of Endocrinology in Sydney last
week.
鈥淓veryone wants to know what this means for chronic fatigue syndrome. We鈥檒l
know once we鈥檝e looked at enough people with the syndrome,鈥� says Torpy. One
theory is that chronic fatigue syndrome is caused by low levels of
cortisol鈥攚hich could be linked to a defective binding protein.
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