De Meirleir, Kenny L, Khaiboullina, Svetlana F, Frémont, Marc et al. · In vivo (Athens, Greece) · 2013
Researchers found that a specific type of immune cell in the gut (called plasmacytoid dendritic cells) reacts to remnants of ancient viral DNA in 8 out of 12 ME/CFS patients, but not in healthy controls. These cells appear to be displaying signs of viral proteins on their surface, which suggests the gut may be involved in triggering immune problems seen in ME/CFS.
This finding opens a new avenue for understanding ME/CFS by linking gut pathology to immune activation and potential neuroinflammation. If HERV expression in intestinal immune cells proves causally relevant, it could lead to novel diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets. The gut-brain connection in ME/CFS is increasingly recognized as critical, making intestinal immune dysfunction a promising area of investigation.
This study does not prove that HERV proteins cause ME/CFS or that they directly trigger the neurological symptoms patients experience. The presence of HERV proteins in immune cells is correlational; causation has not been established. Additionally, the functional consequences of pDC activation in this context remain unknown, and the small sample size limits generalizability.
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
De Meirleir, Kenny L, Khaiboullina, Svetlana F, Frémont, Marc, Hulstaert, Jan, Rizvanov, Albert A, Palotás, András, et al. (2013). Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the duodenum of individuals diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis are uniquely immunoreactive to antibodies to human endogenous retroviral proteins.. In vivo (Athens, Greece). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23422476/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-de-meirleir-2013-plasmacytoid-dendritic,
author = {De Meirleir, Kenny L and Khaiboullina, Svetlana F and Frémont, Marc and Hulstaert, Jan and Rizvanov, Albert A and Palotás, András and Lombardi, Vincent C},
title = {Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the duodenum of individuals diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis are uniquely immunoreactive to antibodies to human endogenous retroviral proteins.},
journal = {In vivo (Athens, Greece)},
year = {2013},
note = {PubMed: 23422476},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/de-meirleir-2013-plasmacytoid-dendritic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/de-meirleir-2013-plasmacytoid-dendritic
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