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 →
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