Giannoccaro, Maria Pia, Cossins, Judith, Sørland, Kari et al. · Clinical therapeutics · 2019 · DOI
Researchers tested blood samples from 50 ME/CFS patients and 50 healthy people to see if ME/CFS patients had unusual antibodies (immune proteins) that attack nerve cells. While a small number of both patients and healthy people had some immune activity toward nerve proteins, only one ME/CFS patient had a specific antibody that could be clearly identified. Interestingly, the patients who did have these antibodies tended to have more severe symptoms and had become ill more recently.
Understanding whether autoantibodies play a role in ME/CFS could lead to new diagnostic tools and treatments targeting the immune system. This study provides foundational evidence that while autoantibodies are not a universal feature of ME/CFS, they may be important in a subset of patients, particularly early in disease, warranting further investigation.
This study does not prove that antibodies cause ME/CFS symptoms or that autoimmunity is the primary mechanism in ME/CFS. The association between antibodies and severity does not establish causation—antibodies could be a consequence rather than a cause of illness. The rarity of specific antibodies means they cannot be used as a diagnostic marker for most ME/CFS patients.
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
Giannoccaro, Maria Pia, Cossins, Judith, Sørland, Kari, Fluge, Øystein, & Vincent, Angela (2019). Searching for Serum Antibodies to Neuronal Proteins in Patients With Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Clinical therapeutics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2019.04.001
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-giannoccaro-2019-searching-serum,
author = {Giannoccaro, Maria Pia and Cossins, Judith and Sørland, Kari and Fluge, Øystein and Vincent, Angela},
title = {Searching for Serum Antibodies to Neuronal Proteins in Patients With Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Clinical therapeutics},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.clinthera.2019.04.001},
note = {PubMed: 31053295},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/giannoccaro-2019-searching-serum},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/giannoccaro-2019-searching-serum
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