Brown, Audrey E, Jones, David E, Walker, Mark et al. · PloS one · 2015 · DOI
Researchers grew muscle cells from ME/CFS patients and healthy people in the lab and stimulated them electrically to mimic exercise. They found that muscle cells from ME/CFS patients didn't respond normally to this simulated exercise: they failed to activate a key energy-sensing protein (AMPK) and didn't increase glucose uptake like healthy cells did. This suggests the problem may be rooted in how the muscle cells themselves are built or programmed, not just from being inactive.
This study provides laboratory evidence that ME/CFS involves genuine muscle cell dysfunction at the molecular level, not just deconditioning. By identifying specific energy-metabolism abnormalities (AMPK signaling and glucose utilization) in cultured patient cells, it opens pathways to develop targeted therapies and strengthens the biological basis for the disease.
This in vitro study does not prove these cellular abnormalities are the cause of post-exertional malaise in living patients, nor does it establish causation. The small sample size (10 CFS patients) and heterogeneity of CFS mean findings may not apply to all patients, and cultured cells do not fully replicate the complex physiology of intact muscle in the body.
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
Brown, Audrey E, Jones, David E, Walker, Mark, & Newton, Julia L (2015). Abnormalities of AMPK activation and glucose uptake in cultured skeletal muscle cells from individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122982
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-brown-2015-abnormalities-ampk,
author = {Brown, Audrey E and Jones, David E and Walker, Mark and Newton, Julia L},
title = {Abnormalities of AMPK activation and glucose uptake in cultured skeletal muscle cells from individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0122982},
note = {PubMed: 25836975},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/brown-2015-abnormalities-ampk},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/brown-2015-abnormalities-ampk
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