Huhmar, Helena M, Soinne, Lauri S, Bertilson, Bo Christer et al. · Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists · 2025 · DOI
This study found that most people with ME/CFS have abnormally low levels of vasopressin, a hormone that helps your body control water balance and blood volume. The researchers measured this hormone and fluid markers in over 100 ME/CFS patients and discovered that 82% had vasopressin levels below the detectable range. This may help explain why many ME/CFS patients experience excessive thirst, frequent urination, and dizziness when standing up.
This study provides a potential biochemical explanation for several hallmark ME/CFS symptoms, particularly orthostatic intolerance and polyuria-polydipsia, which are poorly understood. Identifying vasopressin dysregulation as a measurable disease mechanism could lead to better diagnostic approaches and targeted interventions for managing these debilitating symptoms.
This study does not prove that low vasopressin causes ME/CFS or that treating vasopressin levels will improve symptoms—it demonstrates an association in a cross-sectional snapshot. The study cannot establish whether vasopressin dysregulation is a primary driver of disease or a secondary consequence of ME/CFS pathology. Long-term follow-up and intervention studies would be needed to clarify causality and clinical utility.
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
Huhmar, Helena M, Soinne, Lauri S, Bertilson, Bo Christer, Ghatan, Per Hamid, Bragée, Björn A, & Polo, Olli J (2025). Low Vasopressin in Myalgic Encephalomyelitise/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eprac.2025.12.020
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-huhmar-2025-low-vasopressin,
author = {Huhmar, Helena M and Soinne, Lauri S and Bertilson, Bo Christer and Ghatan, Per Hamid and Bragée, Björn A and Polo, Olli J},
title = {Low Vasopressin in Myalgic Encephalomyelitise/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1016/j.eprac.2025.12.020},
note = {PubMed: 41475665},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/huhmar-2025-low-vasopressin},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/huhmar-2025-low-vasopressin
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