Bonastre-Férez, Javier, Giménez-Orenga, Karen, Falaguera-Vera, Francisco Javier et al. · International journal of molecular sciences · 2024 · DOI
This study tested whether a specialized hands-on therapy treatment could help fibromyalgia patients and discovered why it might work. Researchers found that the treatment lowered levels of a specific gene called SIK1 in patients' blood cells, and this change was linked to improvements in pain, fatigue, and quality of life. Importantly, this gene change only happened in fibromyalgia patients who received the treatment—not in healthy people who got the same therapy.
This research is relevant to ME/CFS because fibromyalgia and ME/CFS share overlapping symptoms including widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction, suggesting potential shared mechanisms. Identifying SIK1 as a disease-specific biomarker and therapeutic target offers a concrete molecular avenue for understanding and treating these debilitating conditions. The correlation between gene expression changes and clinical improvement provides a framework for developing and monitoring targeted treatments.
This study does not prove that lowering SIK1 directly causes symptom improvement—it only shows correlation. It does not establish whether SIK1 is a cause or consequence of fibromyalgia pathology. The findings are specific to fibromyalgia and cannot yet be generalized to ME/CFS without separate validation in ME/CFS populations.
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
Bonastre-Férez, Javier, Giménez-Orenga, Karen, Falaguera-Vera, Francisco Javier, Garcia-Escudero, María, & Oltra, Elisa (2024). Manual Therapy Improves Fibromyalgia Symptoms by Downregulating <i>SIK1</i>.. International journal of molecular sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25179523
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bonastre-frez-2024-manual-therapy,
author = {Bonastre-Férez, Javier and Giménez-Orenga, Karen and Falaguera-Vera, Francisco Javier and Garcia-Escudero, María and Oltra, Elisa},
title = {Manual Therapy Improves Fibromyalgia Symptoms by Downregulating <i>SIK1</i>.},
journal = {International journal of molecular sciences},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.3390/ijms25179523},
note = {PubMed: 39273470},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bonastre-frez-2024-manual-therapy},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bonastre-frez-2024-manual-therapy
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