%0 Journal Article
%@ 1751-3758
%A Agliari, Elena
%A Barra, Adriano
%A Vidal Gervasi, Kristian
%A Guerra, Francesco
%D 2012
%F eprints:1320
%I Taylor & Francis
%J Journal of Biological Dynamics
%K immunology, statistical mechanics
%N 2
%P 740-762
%T Can persistent Epstein–Barr virus infection induce chronic fatigue syndrome as a Pavlov reflex of the immune response?
%U http://eprints.imtlucca.it/1320/
%V 6
%X  Chronic fatigue syndrome is a protracted illness condition (lasting even years) appearing with strong flu symptoms and systemic defiances by the immune system. Here, by means of statistical mechanics techniques, we study the most widely accepted picture for its genesis, namely a persistent acute mononucleosis infection, and we show how such infection may drive the immune system towards an out-of-equilibrium  etastable state displaying chronic activation of both humoral and cellular responses (a state of full inflammation without a direct ‘causes–effect’ reason). By exploiting a bridge with a neural scenario, we mirror killer lymphocytes TK and B cells to neurons and helper lymphocytes and to synapses, hence showing that the immune system may experience the Pavlov conditional reflex phenomenon: if the exposition to a stimulus (Epstein–Barr virus antigens) lasts for too long, strong internal correlations among B,TK and TH may develop ultimately resulting in a persistent activation even though the stimulus itself is removed. These outcomes are corroborated by several experimental findings.