Adverse effect propensity: A new feature of Gulf War illness predicted by environmental exposures

A third of 1990-1 Gulf-deployed personnel developed drug/chemical-induced multisymptom illness, "Gulf War illness"(GWI). Veterans with GWI (VGWI) report increased drug/exposure adverse effects (AEs). Using previously collected data from a case-control study, we evaluated whether the fraction of exposures that engendered AEs ("AE Propensity") is increased in VGWI (it was); whether AE Pro-pensity is related to self-rated "chemical sensitivity"(it did); and whether specific exposures "predicted"AE Propensity (they did). Pesticides and radiation expo-sure were significant predictors, with copper significantly "protective"-in the total sample (adjusted for GWI-status) and separately in VGWI and controls, on multivariable regression. Mitochondrial impairment and oxidative stress (OS) un-derlie AEs from many exposures irrespective of nominal specific mechanism. We hypothesize that mitochondrial toxicity and interrelated OS from pesticides and radiation position people on the steep part of the curve of mitochondrial impair-ment and OS versus symptom/biological disruption, amplifying impact of new ex-posures. Copper, meanwhile, is involved in critical OS detoxification processes.