El-Sehrawy, Amr Ali Mohamed Abdelgawwad, Ayoub, Ibtihal Ibrahim, Uthirapathy, Subasini et al. · European journal of translational myology · 2025 · DOI
This review examines how bacteria in your gut may be connected to ME/CFS symptoms like fatigue and brain fog. Researchers looked at studies from 1995 to 2025 about how gut bacteria communicate with the brain and immune system. The review suggests that fixing imbalances in gut bacteria might help treat ME/CFS, though more research is needed to confirm this.
Understanding the gut-brain connection in ME/CFS could identify new treatment targets beyond symptom management. This emerging research area offers potential for personalized interventions such as targeted probiotics or dietary modifications, which may help improve fatigue, cognitive function, and overall quality of life.
This review does not prove that dysbiosis causes ME/CFS, only that an association exists. The findings do not establish that correcting gut bacteria will treat ME/CFS, nor do they replace the need for clinical trials testing specific microbiota-targeted therapies. Additionally, the review does not determine whether dysbiosis is a primary driver or a secondary consequence of ME/CFS.
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
El-Sehrawy, Amr Ali Mohamed Abdelgawwad, Ayoub, Ibtihal Ibrahim, Uthirapathy, Subasini, Ballal, Suhas, Gabble, Baneen C, Singh, Abhayveer, et al. (2025). The microbiota-gut-brain axis in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a narrative review of an emerging field.. European journal of translational myology. https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2025.13690
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-el-sehrawy-2025-microbiota-gut,
author = {El-Sehrawy, Amr Ali Mohamed Abdelgawwad and Ayoub, Ibtihal Ibrahim and Uthirapathy, Subasini and Ballal, Suhas and Gabble, Baneen C and Singh, Abhayveer and V, Kavitha and Panigrahi, Rajashree and Kamali, Mostafa and Khosravi, Mohsen},
title = {The microbiota-gut-brain axis in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a narrative review of an emerging field.},
journal = {European journal of translational myology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.4081/ejtm.2025.13690},
note = {PubMed: 39937103},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/el-sehrawy-2025-microbiota-gut},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/el-sehrawy-2025-microbiota-gut
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