Günther, Oliver P, Gardy, Jennifer L, Stafford, Phillip et al. · Molecular neurobiology · 2019 · DOI
Researchers used a specialized test to examine antibodies (immune proteins) in the blood of people with ME/CFS and healthy controls. They found a pattern of 256 specific protein signatures in ME/CFS patients' blood that was different from healthy people. This suggests the immune system may be reacting to past infections in a way that could help doctors diagnose ME/CFS in the future.
ME/CFS currently lacks objective diagnostic biomarkers, making diagnosis challenging and often delayed. This study demonstrates that ME/CFS patients have a measurable, distinctive immune signature that could eventually enable faster, more accurate diagnosis and help distinguish ME/CFS from other conditions with similar symptoms.
This study does not prove that the identified antibodies cause ME/CFS or establish their specific role in disease pathogenesis. It also does not demonstrate that this test is ready for clinical use—larger validation studies are needed before it could be implemented in medical practice. The small sample size and cross-sectional design limit conclusions about whether these signatures change over time or predict disease outcomes.
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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Primary citation
Günther, Oliver P, Gardy, Jennifer L, Stafford, Phillip, Fluge, Øystein, Mella, Olav, Tang, Patrick, et al. (2019). Immunosignature Analysis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).. Molecular neurobiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-018-1354-8
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-gnther-2019-immunosignature-analysis,
author = {Günther, Oliver P and Gardy, Jennifer L and Stafford, Phillip and Fluge, Øystein and Mella, Olav and Tang, Patrick and Miller, Ruth R and Parker, Shoshana M and Johnston, Stephen A and Patrick, David M},
title = {Immunosignature Analysis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).},
journal = {Molecular neurobiology},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1007/s12035-018-1354-8},
note = {PubMed: 30298340},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gnther-2019-immunosignature-analysis},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/gnther-2019-immunosignature-analysis
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