Gaab, Jens, Rohleder, Nicolas, Heitz, Vera et al. · Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2005 · DOI
This study tested how ME/CFS patients' immune systems respond to stress compared to healthy people. Researchers gave both groups a stressful public speaking task, then exposed their blood samples to a bacterial substance to measure immune response. Unlike healthy controls whose immune response increased after stress, ME/CFS patients showed a decreased immune response, suggesting their bodies may not mobilize infection-fighting chemicals normally during stress.
Understanding immune dysregulation in ME/CFS is critical for developing targeted treatments. This study challenges the hypothesis that ME/CFS involves exaggerated cytokine release during stress, instead suggesting a blunted or suppressed immune response—a finding that could reshape how researchers approach anti-inflammatory interventions and HPA axis therapies.
This cross-sectional study does not prove causation—it cannot establish whether immune suppression causes fatigue or results from it. The findings are limited to acute laboratory stress and may not reflect how immune systems respond during prolonged, real-world stressors or post-exertional malaise. The sample size is relatively modest, limiting generalizability.
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
Gaab, Jens, Rohleder, Nicolas, Heitz, Vera, Engert, Veronika, Schad, Tanja, Schürmeyer, Thomas H, et al. (2005). Stress-induced changes in LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Psychoneuroendocrinology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2004.06.008
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-gaab-2005-stress-induced,
author = {Gaab, Jens and Rohleder, Nicolas and Heitz, Vera and Engert, Veronika and Schad, Tanja and Schürmeyer, Thomas H and Ehlert, Ulrike},
title = {Stress-induced changes in LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Psychoneuroendocrinology},
year = {2005},
doi = {10.1016/j.psyneuen.2004.06.008},
note = {PubMed: 15471616},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gaab-2005-stress-induced},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gaab-2005-stress-induced
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