Hartwig, Jelka, Sotzny, Franziska, Bauer, Sandra et al. · Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2020 · DOI
This study examined a specific immune problem in some ME/CFS patients: abnormal antibodies that interfere with a receptor protein called β2 adrenergic receptor, which helps regulate immune response and stress recovery. Researchers found that immune cells (antibodies) from healthy people could activate this receptor and boost immune regulation, but antibodies from ME/CFS patients with elevated levels of these specific autoantibodies could not. This dysfunction in the immune system may help explain why ME/CFS patients experience persistent fatigue and immune dysregulation.
This research identifies a potential biological mechanism underlying immune dysregulation in ME/CFS—dysfunction in β2 adrenergic signaling that normally suppresses inflammatory responses and promotes immune recovery. Understanding this mechanism could inform the development of targeted therapies to restore β2 AdR function and provide a biological basis for symptoms like impaired stress response and persistent inflammation in affected patients.
This study does not establish that β2 AdR autoantibodies cause ME/CFS or that all ME/CFS patients have this abnormality (only a subset showed elevated antibodies). The in vitro findings may not fully translate to clinical outcomes in patients, and correlation between autoantibody presence and symptom severity or disease progression was not established. Causality cannot be inferred from this mechanistic study alone.
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
Hartwig, Jelka, Sotzny, Franziska, Bauer, Sandra, Heidecke, Harald, Riemekasten, Gabriela, Dragun, Duska, et al. (2020). IgG stimulated β2 adrenergic receptor activation is attenuated in patients with ME/CFS.. Brain, behavior, & immunity - health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2020.100047
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hartwig-2020-igg-stimulated,
author = {Hartwig, Jelka and Sotzny, Franziska and Bauer, Sandra and Heidecke, Harald and Riemekasten, Gabriela and Dragun, Duska and Meisel, Christian and Dames, Claudia and Grabowski, Patricia and Scheibenbogen, Carmen},
title = {IgG stimulated β2 adrenergic receptor activation is attenuated in patients with ME/CFS.},
journal = {Brain, behavior, & immunity - health},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1016/j.bbih.2020.100047},
note = {PubMed: 34589837},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hartwig-2020-igg-stimulated},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hartwig-2020-igg-stimulated
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