de Vega, Wilfred C, Vernon, Suzanne D, McGowan, Patrick O · PloS one · 2014 · DOI
This study looked at chemical tags attached to DNA (called methylation) in the blood cells of people with ME/CFS compared to healthy people. The researchers found that people with ME/CFS have differences in these chemical tags on genes related to immune function, energy production, and cell signaling. These differences might help explain why the immune system and energy systems aren't working properly in ME/CFS.
This is the first genome-wide methylation study in ME/CFS, providing molecular evidence that abnormal gene regulation—not just genetic mutations—may drive disease pathology. Understanding epigenetic changes could eventually lead to diagnostic biomarkers and new therapeutic targets, and suggests that ME/CFS has a biological basis at the molecular level.
This study does not prove that DNA methylation changes cause ME/CFS—it only shows they are associated with the disease, and causality remains unclear. It does not establish whether these methylation patterns are primary disease drivers or secondary consequences of chronic illness. The findings require functional validation to demonstrate that these epigenetic changes actually alter gene expression and immune dysfunction.
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 Vega, Wilfred C, Vernon, Suzanne D, & McGowan, Patrick O (2014). DNA methylation modifications associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104757
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-de-vega-2014-dna-methylation,
author = {de Vega, Wilfred C and Vernon, Suzanne D and McGowan, Patrick O},
title = {DNA methylation modifications associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0104757},
note = {PubMed: 25111603},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/de-vega-2014-dna-methylation},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/de-vega-2014-dna-methylation
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