Cullen, T, Thomas, A W, Webb, R et al. · Cytokine · 2015 · DOI
Researchers measured a protein called IL-6 that the body produces during exercise and inflammation. They took samples from blood and saliva before and after exercise to see if IL-6 levels changed and whether different measurement methods gave similar results. They found that IL-6 increased in blood after exercise, but saliva samples did not show this increase, suggesting saliva may not be a reliable way to track this immune marker.
Understanding how to accurately measure IL-6—an inflammatory marker implicated in ME/CFS pathophysiology—is crucial for research and clinical monitoring. This study helps identify which sampling methods (blood vs. saliva) are valid for detecting exercise-induced immune responses, which is particularly relevant for ME/CFS research examining post-exertional malaise and abnormal inflammatory responses.
This study does not establish that IL-6 causes ME/CFS symptoms or post-exertional malaise, nor does it involve ME/CFS patients. It also does not demonstrate that saliva IL-6 is never useful—only that it may not reflect systemic IL-6 responses to acute exercise in healthy individuals. Findings may not generalize to patients with altered immune or metabolic physiology.
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
Cullen, T, Thomas, A W, Webb, R, & Hughes, M G (2015). The relationship between interleukin-6 in saliva, venous and capillary plasma, at rest and in response to exercise.. Cytokine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cyto.2014.10.011
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-cullen-2015-relationship-between,
author = {Cullen, T and Thomas, A W and Webb, R and Hughes, M G},
title = {The relationship between interleukin-6 in saliva, venous and capillary plasma, at rest and in response to exercise.},
journal = {Cytokine},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1016/j.cyto.2014.10.011},
note = {PubMed: 25464926},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cullen-2015-relationship-between},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cullen-2015-relationship-between
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