Jensen, Michael Anthony, Dafoe, Miranda Lee, Wilhelmy, Julie et al. · Biochemistry · 2024 · DOI
Researchers found that some ME/CFS patients may have special antibodies in their blood that can break down myelin, the protective coating around nerves. This breakdown could explain nerve pain and muscle weakness in ME/CFS. The study also showed that a drug already approved for multiple sclerosis might be able to stop this harmful antibody activity.
Identifying catalytic antibodies that damage myelin offers a potential mechanistic explanation for neurological symptoms in ME/CFS and suggests existing MS treatments might be repurposed as therapeutic candidates. This research could redirect treatment development toward immune modulation strategies and provides a testable biological hypothesis for a condition that currently lacks clear pathophysiologic mechanisms.
This preliminary study does not establish that catalytic antibodies are present in all ME/CFS patients or that they are the primary cause of the disease. It does not demonstrate clinical efficacy of glatiramer acetate or aprotinin in ME/CFS patients, nor does it prove causation between these antibodies and symptoms—only that they have the capacity to degrade myelin. The presence of these antibodies in healthy controls was not addressed.
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
Jensen, Michael Anthony, Dafoe, Miranda Lee, Wilhelmy, Julie, Cervantes, Layla, Okumu, Anna N, Kipp, Lucas, et al. (2024). Catalytic Antibodies May Contribute to Demyelination in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Biochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00433
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-jensen-2024-catalytic-antibodies,
author = {Jensen, Michael Anthony and Dafoe, Miranda Lee and Wilhelmy, Julie and Cervantes, Layla and Okumu, Anna N and Kipp, Lucas and Nemat-Gorgani, Mohsen and Davis, Ronald Wayne},
title = {Catalytic Antibodies May Contribute to Demyelination in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Biochemistry},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00433},
note = {PubMed: 38011893},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jensen-2024-catalytic-antibodies},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jensen-2024-catalytic-antibodies
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