Bourgonje, Arno R, Hörstke, Nicolai V, Fehringer, Michaela et al. · Microbiome · 2024 · DOI
This study looked at immune responses in ME/CFS and Crohn's disease patients by measuring antibodies against proteins from gut bacteria called flagellins. Researchers found that both patient groups had elevated antibodies against these bacterial proteins, but the pattern of where these antibodies attached differed between the two diseases. These antibody patterns could potentially help doctors diagnose ME/CFS and understand how the immune system may be responding abnormally to gut bacteria.
This research identifies a potential blood test marker for ME/CFS diagnosis and suggests that abnormal immune responses to gut bacteria may play a role in disease pathogenesis. Understanding these differences between ME/CFS and similar diseases like Crohn's could help develop targeted treatments that restore proper immune tolerance to commensal bacteria.
This study does not prove that flagellin antibodies cause ME/CFS—it only shows they are associated with the disease. It also does not establish whether these antibodies are a symptom of ME/CFS or a contributing factor. The cross-sectional design cannot determine causality or temporal relationships, and functional effects of antibody-flagellin binding on disease mechanisms remain to be demonstrated.
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
Bourgonje, Arno R, Hörstke, Nicolai V, Fehringer, Michaela, Innocenti, Gabriel, & Vogl, Thomas (2024). Systemic antibody responses against gut microbiota flagellins implicate shared and divergent immune reactivity in Crohn's disease and chronic fatigue syndrome.. Microbiome. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-024-01858-1
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bourgonje-2024-systemic-antibody,
author = {Bourgonje, Arno R and Hörstke, Nicolai V and Fehringer, Michaela and Innocenti, Gabriel and Vogl, Thomas},
title = {Systemic antibody responses against gut microbiota flagellins implicate shared and divergent immune reactivity in Crohn's disease and chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Microbiome},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1186/s40168-024-01858-1},
note = {PubMed: 39075559},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bourgonje-2024-systemic-antibody},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bourgonje-2024-systemic-antibody
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