Bradley, A S, Ford, B, Bansal, A S · Clinical and experimental immunology · 2013 · DOI
This study looked at different types of B cells (immune cells that help fight infection) in people with ME/CFS compared to healthy people. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had more immature B cells and fewer fully developed B cells than healthy controls, suggesting their immune system might not be developing B cells normally. This finding is interesting because a drug that removes B cells helped some ME/CFS patients improve.
This is one of the first studies to identify objective differences in B cell populations in ME/CFS patients, providing potential biological support for immune system abnormalities in this condition. The findings offer a mechanistic basis for investigating why B cell-targeted therapies like Rituximab have shown clinical benefit in some ME/CFS patients, and could guide future diagnostic or therapeutic approaches.
This study does not prove that B cell abnormalities cause ME/CFS, only that they are associated with the condition—the direction of causality is unclear. It does not explain the function of these B cells or whether the detected changes are sufficient to account for ME/CFS symptoms. The study also cannot determine whether these changes are primary immune defects or secondary consequences of the disease.
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
Bradley, A S, Ford, B, & Bansal, A S (2013). Altered functional B cell subset populations in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome compared to healthy controls.. Clinical and experimental immunology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cei.12043
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bradley-2013-altered-functional,
author = {Bradley, A S and Ford, B and Bansal, A S},
title = {Altered functional B cell subset populations in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome compared to healthy controls.},
journal = {Clinical and experimental immunology},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1111/cei.12043},
note = {PubMed: 23480187},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bradley-2013-altered-functional},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bradley-2013-altered-functional
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