Fujii, Hiroyuki, Sato, Wakiro, Kimura, Yukio et al. · Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging · 2020 · DOI
This study looked at whether certain antibodies in the blood (proteins that attack the body's own receptors) are connected to changes in brain structure in ME/CFS patients. Researchers scanned the brains of 89 ME/CFS patients and measured levels of four specific autoantibodies, then looked for patterns. They found that two of these autoantibodies showed a relationship with how brain networks are organized in specific areas, suggesting these antibodies might be useful markers for identifying ME/CFS.
This research provides evidence that autoantibodies against adrenergic and muscarinic receptors—which may dysfunction the autonomic nervous system—correlate with specific structural changes in ME/CFS brain networks. If validated, these antibodies could become objective biomarkers to help diagnose ME/CFS and understand the biological mechanisms underlying the disease.
This study demonstrates correlation, not causation—it does not prove these antibodies cause the brain changes observed. The findings are limited to local network properties in specific brain regions and do not establish whether these antibodies are universal in ME/CFS, affect clinical severity, or represent a primary pathogenic mechanism versus a secondary response.
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
Fujii, Hiroyuki, Sato, Wakiro, Kimura, Yukio, Matsuda, Hiroshi, Ota, Miho, Maikusa, Norihide, et al. (2020). Altered Structural Brain Networks Related to Adrenergic/Muscarinic Receptor Autoantibodies in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging. https://doi.org/10.1111/jon.12751
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-fujii-2020-altered-structural,
author = {Fujii, Hiroyuki and Sato, Wakiro and Kimura, Yukio and Matsuda, Hiroshi and Ota, Miho and Maikusa, Norihide and Suzuki, Fumio and Amano, Keiko and Shin, Isu and Yamamura, Takashi and Mori, Harushi and Sato, Noriko},
title = {Altered Structural Brain Networks Related to Adrenergic/Muscarinic Receptor Autoantibodies in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1111/jon.12751},
note = {PubMed: 32609410},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/fujii-2020-altered-structural},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/fujii-2020-altered-structural
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