Hornig, M, Gottschalk, G, Peterson, D L et al. · Molecular psychiatry · 2016 · DOI
Researchers examined fluid from around the spine (cerebrospinal fluid) in ME/CFS patients and compared it to healthy people and those with multiple sclerosis. They found that ME/CFS patients had unusual patterns of immune proteins called cytokines in this fluid, suggesting their immune system in the brain and spinal cord is activated differently. The most notable finding was higher levels of a protein called eotaxin, which typically helps recruit immune cells involved in allergic responses.
This study provides objective biological evidence of central nervous system immune activation in ME/CFS, supporting the hypothesis that the condition involves measurable immune dysfunction rather than being purely psychological. Identifying specific immune signatures in cerebrospinal fluid could eventually lead to diagnostic biomarkers and targeted treatments for this poorly understood disease.
This study does not establish whether the observed immune abnormalities cause ME/CFS symptoms or are a consequence of the disease. It cannot prove causation or determine whether these cytokine patterns would be useful as clinical diagnostic tests without validation in larger populations. The findings are correlational and require replication and longitudinal studies to understand their prognostic significance.
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
Hornig, M, Gottschalk, G, Peterson, D L, Knox, K K, Schultz, A F, Eddy, M L, et al. (2016). Cytokine network analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Molecular psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2015.29
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hornig-2016-cytokine-network,
author = {Hornig, M and Gottschalk, G and Peterson, D L and Knox, K K and Schultz, A F and Eddy, M L and Che, X and Lipkin, W I},
title = {Cytokine network analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Molecular psychiatry},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1038/mp.2015.29},
note = {PubMed: 25824300},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hornig-2016-cytokine-network},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hornig-2016-cytokine-network
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