Heller, U, Becker, E W, Zenner, H P et al. · HNO · 1998 · DOI
This study looked at whether certain antibodies (proteins the immune system makes) are found more often in people with sudden or progressive hearing loss. Researchers found that about half of hearing loss patients had antibodies against phospholipids and about half to two-thirds had antibodies against serotonin and gangliosides. Interestingly, some patients with hearing loss also had symptoms of ME/CFS and fibromyalgia, suggesting these conditions may be connected through shared immune system abnormalities.
This study identifies a potential immunological mechanism linking ME/CFS with inner ear dysfunction and hearing loss—conditions that frequently co-occur in ME/CFS patients. The findings suggest screening for specific autoantibodies may help explain multisystem symptoms in ME/CFS and could guide targeted investigation of immune-mediated pathology affecting both auditory and systemic function.
This study does not prove these antibodies cause hearing loss or ME/CFS—only that they are present together. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or temporal relationships. The study lacks healthy controls and patients with hearing loss alone (without systemic symptoms), so it cannot determine whether these antibodies are specific to the hearing loss, the ME/CFS/fibromyalgia overlap, or simply markers of immune activation in general.
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
Heller, U, Becker, E W, Zenner, H P, & Berg, P A (1998). [Incidence and clinical relevance of antibodies to phospholipids, serotonin and ganglioside in patients with sudden deafness and progressive inner ear hearing loss].. HNO. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001060050275
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-heller-1998-incidence-clinical,
author = {Heller, U and Becker, E W and Zenner, H P and Berg, P A},
title = {[Incidence and clinical relevance of antibodies to phospholipids, serotonin and ganglioside in patients with sudden deafness and progressive inner ear hearing loss].},
journal = {HNO},
year = {1998},
doi = {10.1007/s001060050275},
note = {PubMed: 9677490},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/heller-1998-incidence-clinical},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/heller-1998-incidence-clinical
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