Hardcastle, Sharni Lee, Brenu, Ekua Weba, Johnston, Samantha et al. · BMC immunology · 2015 · DOI
This study examined immune system cells from people with moderate and severe ME/CFS compared to healthy controls. Researchers found that people with ME/CFS had abnormal patterns in their immune cells, including changes in markers on T cells, NK cells, and other infection-fighting cells. These differences were more pronounced in people with more severe illness, suggesting that immune dysfunction may be connected to ME/CFS severity.
Identifying specific immune cell abnormalities in ME/CFS provides objective biological markers that could help validate the disease and differentiate severity levels. Understanding which immune pathways are dysregulated is essential for developing targeted treatments and may explain why ME/CFS patients experience persistent illness and post-exertional symptom worsening.
This study does not prove that these immune abnormalities cause ME/CFS—it shows an association only. The findings cannot be generalized to all ME/CFS patients due to small sample size and lack of longitudinal data. The study does not demonstrate whether these immune changes are primary drivers of illness or secondary consequences of chronic disease.
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
Hardcastle, Sharni Lee, Brenu, Ekua Weba, Johnston, Samantha, Nguyen, Thao, Huth, Teilah, Wong, Naomi, et al. (2015). Characterisation of cell functions and receptors in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).. BMC immunology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12865-015-0101-4
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hardcastle-2015-characterisation-cell,
author = {Hardcastle, Sharni Lee and Brenu, Ekua Weba and Johnston, Samantha and Nguyen, Thao and Huth, Teilah and Wong, Naomi and Ramos, Sandra and Staines, Donald and Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya},
title = {Characterisation of cell functions and receptors in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).},
journal = {BMC immunology},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1186/s12865-015-0101-4},
note = {PubMed: 26032326},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hardcastle-2015-characterisation-cell},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hardcastle-2015-characterisation-cell
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