Bearn, J, Allain, T, Coskeran, P et al. · Biological psychiatry · 1995 · DOI
This study tested whether ME/CFS might be caused by problems with the brain's hormone-control system (the pituitary and adrenal glands). Researchers gave patients and healthy people two different tests—one using low blood sugar and another using a serotonin-stimulating drug—to measure hormone responses. They found that ME/CFS patients had unusual patterns in some hormones, suggesting their glands may not be working normally.
This study provides early evidence that ME/CFS may involve dysfunction in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—a central system controlling stress responses and energy metabolism. Understanding these neuroendocrine abnormalities could explain why ME/CFS patients experience such severe fatigue and may eventually lead to more targeted treatments.
This study does not prove that HPA axis dysfunction causes ME/CFS, only that it is associated with the condition. It does not establish whether these hormonal changes are primary defects or secondary consequences of illness. The findings also cannot be generalized beyond the specific patient population tested, and correlation between test results and clinical symptoms was not established.
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
Bearn, J, Allain, T, Coskeran, P, Munro, N, Butler, J, McGregor, A, et al. (1995). Neuroendocrine responses to d-fenfluramine and insulin-induced hypoglycemia in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Biological psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(94)00121-I
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bearn-1995-neuroendocrine-responses,
author = {Bearn, J and Allain, T and Coskeran, P and Munro, N and Butler, J and McGregor, A and Wessely, S},
title = {Neuroendocrine responses to d-fenfluramine and insulin-induced hypoglycemia in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Biological psychiatry},
year = {1995},
doi = {10.1016/0006-3223(94)00121-I},
note = {PubMed: 7711161},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bearn-1995-neuroendocrine-responses},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bearn-1995-neuroendocrine-responses
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