Table 2.
Association of biological measures with illness groups: selected measures included telomere length, metabolic, and allostatic load variables
| Variable | All (n = 639) |
CFS-X (n = 77) |
CFS (n = 64) |
ISF (n = 302) |
NF (n = 196) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/S ratio telomere lengtha | 0.98 (0.01) | 0.97 (0.04) | 0.90 (0.03) | 0.94 (0.02) | 1.06 (0.04) | 0.0017 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL)b | 117.13 (3.51) | 144.01 (12.15) | 143.53 (16.4) | 114.25 (4.81) | 102.43 (4.62) | 0.0003 |
| HDL (mg/dL)b,c | 53.86 (0.65) | 54.45 (2.29) | 52.06 (1.92) | 53.31 (0.91) | 55.05 (1.16) | 0.5278 |
| Heart rate (bpm)c | 68.02 (0.35) | 69.91 (1.01) | 69.05 (1.2) | 68.33 (0.5) | 66.47 (0.6) | 0.0113 |
| Blood pressure: systolic (mmHg)b,c | 118.52 (0.61) | 120.14 (1.99) | 119.34 (1.91) | 118.75 (0.92) | 117.28 (0.95) | 0.4935 |
| Blood pressure: diastolic (mmHg)b,c | 74.92 (0.39) | 76.29 (1.29) | 74.42 (1.32) | 74.97 (0.56) | 74.48 (0.66) | 0.5685 |
| Fasting glucose (mg/dL)b,c | 94.35 (0.63) | 96.68 (2.02) | 93.36 (1.84) | 95.5 (1.04) | 91.98 (0.8) | 0.0501 |
| Insulin (µIU/mL)c | 6.29 (0.26) | 7.68 (0.92) | 6.91 (0.74) | 6.64 (0.39) | 5.01 (0.39) | 0.0062 |
| CRP (mg/dL)c | 3.62 (0.2) | 5.1 (0.76) | 4.71 (0.79) | 3.73 (0.28) | 2.54 (0.26) | 0.0003 |
| Albumin (g/dL)c | 4.2 (0.01) | 4.23 (0.03) | 4.22 (0.03) | 4.18 (0.01) | 4.22 (0.02) | 0.2336 |
Values are mean (SEM) unless otherwise indicated
aT/S ratio of a subject is the ratio of telomere PCR signal (T) to the single copy gene PCR signal (S). The T/S ratio is proportional to the average telomere length per cell and is expressed relative to the T/S ratio of a reference DNA
bMetabolic syndrome variable
cAllostatic load variable