Bjørklund, Geir, Dadar, Maryam, Pivina, Lyudmila et al. · Molecular neurobiology · 2020 · DOI
This review looked at how ME/CFS develops by examining immune system problems, oxidative stress (cellular damage from harmful molecules), infections, and nutritional issues. Researchers found that people with ME/CFS often have changes in their immune cells and proteins, along with signs of cellular damage that could explain fatigue, pain, and other symptoms. The study suggests that treatments targeting oxidative stress and nutrition might help, though more research is needed.
This comprehensive review bridges multiple biological mechanisms implicated in ME/CFS, providing a unifying framework that may guide future diagnostic biomarker validation and targeted therapeutic development. For patients, understanding these interconnected pathways offers hope for personalized treatment approaches targeting immune dysfunction, oxidative stress, and nutritional repletion.
This review does not establish causation—it describes correlations between biomarkers and symptoms. It does not validate any single biomarker as definitively diagnostic for ME/CFS, nor does it prove that antioxidant or lipid replacement treatments are effective in clinical practice. The findings represent associations observed in published studies of varying quality and cannot determine which factors are primary versus secondary.
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
Bjørklund, Geir, Dadar, Maryam, Pivina, Lyudmila, Doşa, Monica Daniela, Semenova, Yuliya, & Maes, Michael (2020). Environmental, Neuro-immune, and Neuro-oxidative Stress Interactions in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Molecular neurobiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-020-01939-w
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bjrklund-2020-environmental-neuro,
author = {Bjørklund, Geir and Dadar, Maryam and Pivina, Lyudmila and Doşa, Monica Daniela and Semenova, Yuliya and Maes, Michael},
title = {Environmental, Neuro-immune, and Neuro-oxidative Stress Interactions in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Molecular neurobiology},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1007/s12035-020-01939-w},
note = {PubMed: 32761353},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bjrklund-2020-environmental-neuro},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bjrklund-2020-environmental-neuro
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