Dell'Osso, Liliana, Bazzichi, Laura, Baroni, Stefano et al. · Clinical and experimental rheumatology · 2015
This review examined whether ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and mood disorders like depression might share similar root causes involving inflammation and immune system dysfunction. Researchers looked at scientific papers from 2000-2014 and found striking similarities in how these conditions affect the brain, nervous system, and immune system. The findings suggest these seemingly different conditions may be connected through common biological mechanisms rather than being completely separate diseases.
This work validates patient experiences of overlapping symptoms across ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and depression, and argues for integrated research and clinical approaches rather than siloed investigation. Recognition of shared inflammatory mechanisms could advance understanding of ME/CFS pathophysiology and inform more unified treatment strategies. For patients, this framework may reduce the fragmentation of care across different medical specialties.
This review does not establish causation or prove that inflammation is the primary driver of ME/CFS, only that inflammation appears in the literature alongside these conditions. It does not provide new experimental data; it synthesizes existing published work, which may contain publication bias favoring positive findings. The review does not determine whether inflammatory markers are disease-causing, disease-modifying, or merely associated phenomena.
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 →
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Primary citation
Dell'Osso, Liliana, Bazzichi, Laura, Baroni, Stefano, Falaschi, Valentina, Conversano, Ciro, Carmassi, Claudia, et al. (2015). The inflammatory hypothesis of mood spectrum broadened to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.. Clinical and experimental rheumatology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25786052/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-dellosso-2015-inflammatory-hypothesis,
author = {Dell'Osso, Liliana and Bazzichi, Laura and Baroni, Stefano and Falaschi, Valentina and Conversano, Ciro and Carmassi, Claudia and Marazziti, Donatella},
title = {The inflammatory hypothesis of mood spectrum broadened to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Clinical and experimental rheumatology},
year = {2015},
note = {PubMed: 25786052},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/dellosso-2015-inflammatory-hypothesis},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/dellosso-2015-inflammatory-hypothesis
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