Gardella, Anne E, Eweis-LaBolle, Daniel, Loy, Conor J et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025 · DOI
Researchers analyzed tiny pieces of RNA floating in the blood of people with ME/CFS and compared them to healthy people. They used a computer program to identify a pattern of these RNA pieces that could help diagnose ME/CFS with 77% accuracy. The study found that people with ME/CFS have different levels of immune cells releasing material into their blood, suggesting the immune system is behaving differently.
This research offers hope for a non-invasive blood test to help diagnose ME/CFS, addressing a major gap in clinical practice where diagnosis currently relies on symptom reporting. The identification of specific immune abnormalities provides biological evidence that validates patient experiences and could guide future treatment development.
This study does not prove that cfRNA signatures cause ME/CFS or establish causative mechanisms—it demonstrates association. The 77% accuracy means this biomarker panel alone is not yet sufficiently reliable for clinical diagnostic use. Results require validation in larger, independent cohorts before implementation in routine clinical practice.
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
Gardella, Anne E, Eweis-LaBolle, Daniel, Loy, Conor J, Belcher, Emma D, Lenz, Joan S, Franconi, Carl J, et al. (2025). Circulating cell-free RNA signatures for the characterization and diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2507345122
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-gardella-2025-circulating-cell,
author = {Gardella, Anne E and Eweis-LaBolle, Daniel and Loy, Conor J and Belcher, Emma D and Lenz, Joan S and Franconi, Carl J and Scofield, Sally Y and Grimson, Andrew and Hanson, Maureen R and De Vlaminck, Iwijn},
title = {Circulating cell-free RNA signatures for the characterization and diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2507345122},
note = {PubMed: 40789036},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gardella-2025-circulating-cell},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gardella-2025-circulating-cell
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