Frémont, Marc, Coomans, Danny, Massart, Sebastien et al. · Anaerobe · 2013 · DOI
This study examined bacteria in the gut of ME/CFS patients compared to healthy people. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients have different types and amounts of gut bacteria than healthy controls, particularly an overgrowth of certain bacteria and a decrease in others. These differences suggest that gut bacteria imbalance may be linked to ME/CFS, and testing for these specific bacteria changes might help diagnose the condition or guide new treatments like probiotics.
This research provides objective evidence that gut bacteria composition is altered in ME/CFS, offering a potential biological marker for diagnosis and a target for new microbiota-based treatments. For patients experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms—a common complaint in ME/CFS—this work validates that there may be real, measurable changes in their gut bacteria that could eventually guide personalized treatment approaches.
This study demonstrates correlation between dysbiosis and ME/CFS but cannot prove that dysbiosis causes ME/CFS or that correcting dysbiosis will improve symptoms. The cross-sectional design means we cannot determine the direction of causality, and the significant differences between Belgian and Norwegian control populations suggest that dysbiosis patterns may vary by geography, making it unclear which bacterial changes are universally relevant to ME/CFS pathogenesis.
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
Frémont, Marc, Coomans, Danny, Massart, Sebastien, & De Meirleir, Kenny (2013). High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing reveals alterations of intestinal microbiota in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients.. Anaerobe. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anaerobe.2013.06.002
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-frmont-2013-high-throughput,
author = {Frémont, Marc and Coomans, Danny and Massart, Sebastien and De Meirleir, Kenny},
title = {High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing reveals alterations of intestinal microbiota in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients.},
journal = {Anaerobe},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1016/j.anaerobe.2013.06.002},
note = {PubMed: 23791918},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/frmont-2013-high-throughput},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/frmont-2013-high-throughput
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