Dopamine Imbalance Main Factor in MS....and ME/CFS?

[Cort]

Andrew Miller of Emory University might agree. His basal ganglia ME/CFS study suggested that dopamine problems could be essential.

This hypothesis proposes it's a key problem in many neurological disorders.

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25814977

Front Neurol. 2015 Mar 12;6:52. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2015.00052. eCollection 2015. The dopamine imbalance hypothesis of fatigue in multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. Dobryakova E1, Genova HM2, DeLuca J3, Wylie GR4.

Abstract

Fatigue is one of the most pervasive symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), and has engendered hundreds of investigations on the topic. While there is a growing literature using various methods to study fatigue, a unified theory of fatigue in MS is yet to emerge. In the current review, we synthesize findings from neuroimaging, pharmacological, neuropsychological, and immunological studies of fatigue in MS, which point to a specific hypothesis of fatigue in MS: the dopamine imbalance hypothesis. The communication between the striatum and prefrontal cortex is reliant on dopamine, a modulatory neurotransmitter.

Neuroimaging findings suggest that fatigue results from the disruption of communication between these regions. Supporting the dopamine imbalance hypothesis, structural and functional neuroimaging studies show abnormalities in the frontal and striatal regions that are heavily innervated by dopamine neurons.

Further, dopaminergic psychostimulant medication has been shown to alleviate fatigue in individuals with traumatic brain injury, chronic fatigue syndrome, and in cancer patients, also indicating that dopamine might play an important role in fatigue perception. This paper reviews the structural and functional neuroimaging evidence as well as pharmacological studies that suggest that dopamine plays a critical role in the phenomenon of fatigue.

We conclude with how specific aspects of the dopamine imbalance hypothesis can be tested in future research.

 

[Zapped]

I'm late reading (Jan, 2016) but IMHO, this is the tract to follow vs pathogen, which has been pursued
without pinpoint accuracy for X years, though admittedly may be mutually inclusive - or not.

Further, research reports like these are excellent resources for PWC's to take to their
GP's to get themselves up and running, sic for rx's for steroids, stimulants and for their modulators.
(IOW, feel better now with judicious use of existing ethical pharms while awaiting fine tuning for approved of new drugs.)