Anft, Moritz, Wiemers, Lea, Rosiewicz, Kamil S et al. · Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2025 · DOI
This small study tested whether a blood-cleaning treatment called immunoadsorption could help people with ME/CFS symptoms that developed or worsened after COVID-19. The treatment removed harmful antibodies (immune proteins) from patients' blood, and researchers found it temporarily reduced inflammation markers and improved some brain function tests. However, patients' main ME/CFS symptoms and fatigue scores did not significantly improve, and the harmful antibodies came back within a month.
This study provides preliminary evidence that autoantibodies may play a role in post-COVID ME/CFS, offering a potential mechanistic target for treatment. The findings could inform future research into immune-based interventions, though larger controlled trials are needed to determine whether immunoadsorption could become a viable therapeutic option for this patient population.
This study does not establish that autoantibodies cause ME/CFS, only that their removal correlates with some improvements in specific measures. The small sample size (n=12), observational design, and lack of a control group mean results cannot prove efficacy or determine whether benefits were due to the treatment itself. The rapid rebound of removed proteins and lack of sustained symptom improvement raise questions about the treatment's clinical utility.
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 →
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