Bansal, Rashika, Gubbi, Sriram, Koch, Christian A · Journal of clinical & translational endocrinology · 2022 · DOI
Some people who recover from COVID-19 experience long-lasting exhaustion and other debilitating symptoms similar to ME/CFS. This review examines how COVID-19 might affect the body's hormone systems, particularly the glands that control stress response and energy levels. The authors suggest doctors should check patients' hormone levels as part of their care plan.
Understanding the role of hormone system dysfunction in post-COVID syndrome is critical because similar endocrine abnormalities have been implicated in ME/CFS pathophysiology. This connection suggests that evaluation and treatment approaches developed for post-COVID syndrome could provide insights applicable to ME/CFS patients, particularly regarding HPA axis dysfunction and its clinical management.
This editorial does not provide original experimental data or quantitative evidence of endocrine dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. It does not establish causation between specific endocrine abnormalities and post-COVID symptoms, only reviews potential mechanistic connections. The study does not compare post-COVID syndrome directly to ME/CFS or validate whether the same endocrine pathways are involved in both conditions.
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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Primary citation
Bansal, Rashika, Gubbi, Sriram, & Koch, Christian A (2022). COVID-19 and chronic fatigue syndrome: An endocrine perspective.. Journal of clinical & translational endocrinology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcte.2021.100284
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bansal-2022-covid-chronic,
author = {Bansal, Rashika and Gubbi, Sriram and Koch, Christian A},
title = {COVID-19 and chronic fatigue syndrome: An endocrine perspective.},
journal = {Journal of clinical & translational endocrinology},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1016/j.jcte.2021.100284},
note = {PubMed: 34877261},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bansal-2022-covid-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bansal-2022-covid-chronic
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