Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Rudd, Penny, Er, Teagan et al. · JCI insight · 2024 · DOI
This study looked at immune system genes in blood samples from people with ME/CFS and long COVID to understand why their immune systems aren't working properly. Researchers found that people with ME/CFS had reduced immune signaling and infection-fighting genes, suggesting immune suppression, while long COVID patients showed different patterns of immune dysregulation. These findings suggest that both conditions involve problems with how the immune system activates and responds, which may help explain why people with these illnesses struggle with persistent symptoms.
Understanding the specific immune gene abnormalities in ME/CFS and long COVID could lead to better diagnostic tests and targeted treatments for these disabling conditions. By identifying differences between the two conditions' immune profiles, researchers may develop more effective therapeutic strategies tailored to each disease's underlying immune dysfunction.
This study does not prove that immune exhaustion causes ME/CFS or long COVID—it only shows associations between altered gene expression and disease presence. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether these immune changes precede illness onset, develop as a consequence of disease, or represent stable markers. Results are based on a relatively small sample size and would need confirmation in larger, longitudinal studies.
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
Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Rudd, Penny, Er, Teagan, Hool, Livia, Herrero, Lara, & Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya (2024). Immune exhaustion in ME/CFS and long COVID.. JCI insight. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.183810
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-eaton-fitch-2024-immune-exhaustion,
author = {Eaton-Fitch, Natalie and Rudd, Penny and Er, Teagan and Hool, Livia and Herrero, Lara and Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya},
title = {Immune exhaustion in ME/CFS and long COVID.},
journal = {JCI insight},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1172/jci.insight.183810},
note = {PubMed: 39435656},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/eaton-fitch-2024-immune-exhaustion},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/eaton-fitch-2024-immune-exhaustion
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