Borah, Mukundam, Sarma, Phulen, Das, Swarnamoni · Pharmacognosy research · 2014 · DOI
Researchers tested whether wheat leaf extract could help mice recover from exhaustion caused by repeated stress. The stressed mice that received the extract showed improved activity levels and reduced anxiety compared to untreated stressed mice, and their brain chemistry improved. This suggests the extract's antioxidant properties may help protect against some effects of chronic fatigue.
This study addresses oxidative stress, a hypothesized contributor to ME/CFS pathophysiology, by demonstrating that a plant-based antioxidant intervention may ameliorate fatigue-related and anxiety symptoms in an animal model. If such findings translate to human studies, natural compounds with antioxidant activity could represent a low-risk complementary approach to symptom management.
This study does not establish that wheat leaf extract would be effective in human ME/CFS patients, as the mouse stress model does not fully replicate the complex biological mechanisms underlying ME/CFS. The findings describe association between reduced oxidative stress markers and behavioral improvement but do not prove oxidative stress is the primary driver of fatigue in ME/CFS. Acute stress-induced fatigue in mice may differ fundamentally from post-exertional malaise and persistent fatigue in human ME/CFS.
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
Borah, Mukundam, Sarma, Phulen, & Das, Swarnamoni (2014). A Study of the Protective Effect of Triticum aestivum L. in an Experimental Animal Model of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Pharmacognosy research. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8490.138251
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-borah-2014-study-protective,
author = {Borah, Mukundam and Sarma, Phulen and Das, Swarnamoni},
title = {A Study of the Protective Effect of Triticum aestivum L. in an Experimental Animal Model of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Pharmacognosy research},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.4103/0974-8490.138251},
note = {PubMed: 25276064},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/borah-2014-study-protective},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/borah-2014-study-protective
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