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 →
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
Anft, Moritz, Wiemers, Lea, Rosiewicz, Kamil S, Doevelaar, Adrian, Skrzypczyk, Sarah, Kurek, Julia, et al. (2025). Effect of immunoadsorption on clinical presentation and immune alterations in COVID-19-induced and/or aggravated ME/CFS.. Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2025.01.007
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-anft-2025-effect-immunoadsorption,
author = {Anft, Moritz and Wiemers, Lea and Rosiewicz, Kamil S and Doevelaar, Adrian and Skrzypczyk, Sarah and Kurek, Julia and Kaliszczyk, Sviatlana and Seidel, Maximilian and Stervbo, Ulrik and Seibert, Felix S and Westhoff, Timm H and Babel, Nina},
title = {Effect of immunoadsorption on clinical presentation and immune alterations in COVID-19-induced and/or aggravated ME/CFS.},
journal = {Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1016/j.ymthe.2025.01.007},
note = {PubMed: 39797400},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/anft-2025-effect-immunoadsorption},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/anft-2025-effect-immunoadsorption
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