US Troops in the Persian Gulf War (1991). Gulf War Illness (GWI), which affects approximately 250,000 U.S. veterans, has been found to significantly reduce the ability of white blood cells to make energy and creates a measurable biochemical difference in veterans who have the disease. Credit: Department of Defense
Key points:
- Gulf War Illness significantly reduces white blood cells’ ability to generate energy.
- GWI diminishes white blood cell energy production by impairing their mitochondria.
- Measurements of energetic deficiency in veterans with GWI can help doctors assess whether prescribed treatment is helping relieve symptoms.
A new study, published in PLOS ONE, finds that Gulf War Illness (GWI) significantly reduces white blood cells’ ability to generate energy and creates a measurable biochemical difference in veterans who have the disease.
Using white blood cells from blood samples from 114 Gulf War veterans, including 80 from veterans diagnosed with GWI, researchers analyzed mitochondrial respiration and extracellular acidification—proxies for energy generation. The team also searched for any evidence of mitochondrial DNA damage and nuclear DNA damage.
Although their analyses revealed no DNA damage, they discovered significantly lower levels of both extracellular acidification and oxygen consumption in the white blood cells from veterans with GWI. This result suggests that GWI inhibits white blood cells’ energy production by impairing their mitochondria.
Even with repeated follow-up, the cells of veterans with GWI produced less energy compared to unaffected veterans. Measurements of this energetic deficiency are not sufficient as a stand-alone diagnostic test, but can help doctors assess whether a prescribed treatment is effective.
“Historically, GWI has been diagnosed based on a veteran’s self-reported symptoms, such as exercise-induced fatigue, indigestion, dizziness, insomnia, or memory problems. There’s been no objective biochemical or molecular measurements doctors could use to diagnose it,” said Joel Meyer, professor of environmental genomics at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, who led the new study. Knowing this is an energetic deficiency can help us zero in on more effective ways to relieve the symptoms. Blood tests, repeated over the course of treatment, would show is a veteran’s white blood cells are responding to a treatment and producing more energy.”
The new study provides measurements accessible in blood samples, which, though not sufficient to serve as a stand-alone diagnostic test, could be useful to help improve treatment for veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness by giving doctors a new way to assess whether a prescribed treatment is helping.
In addition to their mitochondria analysis, Meyer and his colleagues compared the veterans’ self-reported symptoms with their written recollections of their deployments to try to gain insight into the cause of GWI.
“We found veterans who recalled being exposed to pesticides and pyridostigmine bromide were more likely to get GWI after deployment,” said Meyer. “An interesting question is how these effects have persisted so long after the exposures.”