Caligiuri, M, Murray, C, Buchwald, D et al. · Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 1987
This study examined immune cells called natural killer cells in people with ME/CFS and compared them to healthy controls. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had fewer of a specific type of natural killer cell and that these cells were less effective at fighting virus-infected cells, even after being stimulated to work harder. This suggests a potential immune system dysfunction in ME/CFS.
This study provides early mechanistic evidence that ME/CFS involves quantitative and qualitative NK cell dysfunction, potentially explaining the documented difficulty these patients have in controlling viral infections. Understanding specific immune cell defects is crucial for developing targeted therapeutic approaches and may help validate ME/CFS as a biologically distinct illness.
This study does not prove that NK cell dysfunction causes ME/CFS—it only demonstrates an association in this patient population. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether NK cell defects precede symptom onset or develop as a consequence of illness. The study cannot determine whether NK cell abnormalities are the primary driver of ME/CFS symptoms or a secondary feature of a broader immune dysregulation.
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
Caligiuri, M, Murray, C, Buchwald, D, Levine, H, Cheney, P, Peterson, D, et al. (1987). Phenotypic and functional deficiency of natural killer cells in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2824604/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-caligiuri-1987-phenotypic-functional,
author = {Caligiuri, M and Murray, C and Buchwald, D and Levine, H and Cheney, P and Peterson, D and Komaroff, A L and Ritz, J},
title = {Phenotypic and functional deficiency of natural killer cells in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)},
year = {1987},
note = {PubMed: 2824604},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/caligiuri-1987-phenotypic-functional},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/caligiuri-1987-phenotypic-functional
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