Guo, Cheng, Che, Xiaoyu, Briese, Thomas et al. · Cell host & microbe · 2023 · DOI
Researchers studied gut bacteria in people with ME/CFS and found that they have fewer healthy bacteria that produce a substance called butyrate, which normally helps protect the gut and reduce inflammation. The bacteria that are missing—Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Eubacterium rectale—are known to be beneficial in healthy people. Importantly, people with more of these bacteria had less severe fatigue, suggesting a connection between gut bacteria health and ME/CFS symptoms.
This study provides concrete evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable changes in gut bacteria and their function, potentially opening new avenues for diagnosis and treatment. The identification of specific bacterial deficiencies offers targets for future therapeutic interventions, such as probiotics or dietary modifications, that could help restore healthy gut function and reduce fatigue in ME/CFS patients.
This study does not prove that deficient butyrate production causes ME/CFS—it only shows an association. It does not establish whether restoring these bacteria would improve symptoms, nor does it explain the mechanisms by which altered butyrate levels might contribute to fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, or other ME/CFS symptoms. The cross-sectional design means the temporal relationship between microbiome changes and disease onset cannot be determined.
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
Guo, Cheng, Che, Xiaoyu, Briese, Thomas, Ranjan, Amit, Allicock, Orchid, Yates, Rachel A, et al. (2023). Deficient butyrate-producing capacity in the gut microbiome is associated with bacterial network disturbances and fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS.. Cell host & microbe. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2023.01.004
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-guo-2023-deficient-butyrate,
author = {Guo, Cheng and Che, Xiaoyu and Briese, Thomas and Ranjan, Amit and Allicock, Orchid and Yates, Rachel A and Cheng, Aaron and March, Dana and Hornig, Mady and Komaroff, Anthony L and Levine, Susan and Bateman, Lucinda and Vernon, Suzanne D and Klimas, Nancy G and Montoya, Jose G and Peterson, Daniel L and Lipkin, W Ian and Williams, Brent L},
title = {Deficient butyrate-producing capacity in the gut microbiome is associated with bacterial network disturbances and fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS.},
journal = {Cell host & microbe},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1016/j.chom.2023.01.004},
note = {PubMed: 36758522},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/guo-2023-deficient-butyrate},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/guo-2023-deficient-butyrate
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