Allain, T J, Bearn, J A, Coskeran, P et al. · Biological psychiatry · 1997 · DOI
This study looked at hormone levels in people with ME/CFS compared to healthy controls. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had lower levels of two growth-related hormones (IGF-I and IGF-II), a weaker response to a hormone stimulation test, higher insulin levels, and lower levels of a protein that regulates these hormones. These differences suggest the hormone system that controls growth and metabolism may work differently in ME/CFS.
Understanding hormonal dysfunction in ME/CFS may help explain the mechanism of fatigue and exercise intolerance. If GH-IGF axis abnormalities are primary pathological features, they could become targets for treatment. This work opens investigation into neuroendocrine causes rather than purely psychiatric explanations of ME/CFS.
This study does not establish whether the observed hormone abnormalities cause ME/CFS symptoms or result from them. The cross-sectional design cannot determine causality, and the authors themselves note that reduced physical activity in CFS could explain the findings rather than a primary disease mechanism. The study does not prove these abnormalities are treatable or that correcting them would improve symptoms.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Allain, T J, Bearn, J A, Coskeran, P, Jones, J, Checkley, A, Butler, J, et al. (1997). Changes in growth hormone, insulin, insulinlike growth factors (IGFs), and IGF-binding protein-1 in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Biological psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(96)00074-1
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-allain-1997-changes-growth,
author = {Allain, T J and Bearn, J A and Coskeran, P and Jones, J and Checkley, A and Butler, J and Wessely, S and Miell, J P},
title = {Changes in growth hormone, insulin, insulinlike growth factors (IGFs), and IGF-binding protein-1 in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Biological psychiatry},
year = {1997},
doi = {10.1016/s0006-3223(96)00074-1},
note = {PubMed: 9046989},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/allain-1997-changes-growth},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/allain-1997-changes-growth
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