Hoheisel, Friederike, Fleischer, Kathrin Maria, Rubarth, Kerstin et al. · Frontiers in immunology · 2025 · DOI
This study looked for certain antibodies in the blood of women with post-COVID and ME/CFS that might mistakenly attack the body's own proteins. The researchers found that patients with these conditions had more of these problematic antibodies than healthy people, and these antibodies were linked to common ME/CFS symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, pain, and autonomic problems. The results suggest that a virus (EBV) may trigger the immune system to attack human proteins that look similar to viral proteins.
This research provides evidence for a potential mechanism—molecular mimicry—that could explain how viral infections trigger ME/CFS and post-COVID in some patients. Understanding this autoimmune mechanism could eventually lead to better diagnostic tests and targeted treatments for these debilitating conditions.
This study does not prove that these autoantibodies cause ME/CFS or post-COVID; it only shows they are more common in patients with these conditions. The results cannot be generalized to men, and the correlations with symptoms don't establish that the autoantibodies directly cause the symptom severity—other factors may be involved.
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
Hoheisel, Friederike, Fleischer, Kathrin Maria, Rubarth, Kerstin, Sepúlveda, Nuno, Bauer, Sandra, Konietschke, Frank, et al. (2025). Exploratory study on autoantibodies to arginine-rich human peptides mimicking Epstein-Barr virus in women with post-COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Frontiers in immunology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1650948
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hoheisel-2025-exploratory-study,
author = {Hoheisel, Friederike and Fleischer, Kathrin Maria and Rubarth, Kerstin and Sepúlveda, Nuno and Bauer, Sandra and Konietschke, Frank and Kedor Peters, Claudia and Stein, Annika Elisa and Wittke, Kirsten and Seifert, Martina and Bellmann-Strobl, Judith and Mautner, Josef and Behrends, Uta and Scheibenbogen, Carmen and Sotzny, Franziska},
title = {Exploratory study on autoantibodies to arginine-rich human peptides mimicking Epstein-Barr virus in women with post-COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Frontiers in immunology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3389/fimmu.2025.1650948},
note = {PubMed: 41050647},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hoheisel-2025-exploratory-study},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hoheisel-2025-exploratory-study
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