ArticlePloS one2016
Blood Biomarkers of Chronic Inflammation in Gulf War Illness.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Corticosteroid Usage in Modeling Gulf War Illness in Pre-Clinical Models: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise does not cause post-exertional malaise in Veterans with Gulf War Illness: A randomized, controlled, dose-response, crossover study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Trial
- Trial
- A Placebo-Controlled, Pseudo-Randomized, Crossover Trial of Botanical Agents for Gulf War Illness: Reishi Mushroom (International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- A Placebo-Controlled, Pseudo-Randomized, Crossover Trial of Botanical Agents for Gulf War Illness: Resveratrol (International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- A Placebo-Controlled, Pseudo-Randomized, Crossover Trial of Botanical Agents for Gulf War Illness: Curcumin (International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- A Detoxification Intervention for Gulf War Illness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Trial
- Gulf War Illness: Neurological Impacts, Pathophysiological Insights, and Therapeutic Prospects.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Neurometabolite alterations in Gulf War Illness: a whole-brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.Experimental brain research · 2025Observational
- Navigating Psychiatric Concerns in a Veteran Reporting Gulf War Illness: A Case Report.The Permanente journal · 2025Article
- Dysregulation of lipid metabolism, energy production, and oxidative stress in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome and fibromyalgia.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Review
- Exposure to Gulf war illness-related chemicals exacerbates alcohol-induced liver damage in rodents.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Anthrax Vaccines in the 21st Century.Vaccines · 2024Review
- Exposure to Gulf war illness-related chemicals exacerbates alcohol- induced liver damage in rodents.Research square · 2024Article
- Novel characterization of endogenous transient receptor potential melastatin 3 ion channels from Gulf War Illness participants.PloS one · 2024Article
- Exposing the latent phenotype of Gulf War Illness: examination of the mechanistic mediators of cognitive dysfunction.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Phytonutrients in the promotion of healthspan: a new perspective.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Adverse effect propensity: A new feature of Gulf War illness predicted by environmental exposures.iScience · 2023Article
- Mitochondrial impairment but not peripheral inflammation predicts greater Gulf War illness severity.Scientific reports · 2023Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMore than twenty years following the end of the 1990-1991 Gulf War it is estimated that approximately 300,000 veterans of this conflict suffer from an unexplained chronic, multi-system disorder known as Gulf War Illness (GWI). The etiology of GWI may be exposure to chemical toxins, but it remains only partially defined, and its case definition is based only on symptoms. Objective criteria for the diagnosis of GWI are urgently needed for diagnosis and therapeutic research.
objectiveThis study was designed to determine if blood biomarkers could provide objective criteria to assist diagnosis of GWI.
designA surveillance study of 85 Gulf War Veteran volunteers identified from the Department of Veterans Affairs Minnesota Gulf War registry was performed. All subjects were deployed to the Gulf War. Fifty seven subjects had GWI defined by CDC criteria, and 28 did not have symptomatic criteria for a diagnosis of GWI. Statistical analyses were performed on peripheral blood counts and assays of 61 plasma proteins using the Mann-Whitney rank sum test to compare biomarker distributions and stepwise logistic regression to formulate a diagnostic model.
resultsLymphocyte, monocyte, neutrophil, and platelet counts were higher in GWI subjects. Six serum proteins associated with inflammation were significantly different in GWI subjects. A diagnostic model of three biomarkers-lymphocytes, monocytes, and C reactive protein-had a predicted probability of 90% (CI 76-90%) for diagnosing GWI when the probability of having GWI was above 70%. SIGNIFICANCE: The results of the current study indicate that inflammation is a component of the pathobiology of GWI. Analysis of the data resulted in a model utilizing three readily measurable biomarkers that appears to significantly augment the symptom-based case definition of GWI. These new observations are highly relevant to the diagnosis of GWI, and to therapeutic trials.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.