Keech, Andrew, Vollmer-Conna, Ute, Barry, Benjamin K et al. · Frontiers in physiology · 2016 · DOI
Researchers studied whether a single 25-minute exercise session changed the activity of specific genes in white blood cells of ME/CFS patients compared to healthy people. Although ME/CFS patients reported significantly worsened fatigue after exercise, the researchers found no major changes in the 19 genes they measured in either group, suggesting that post-exertional fatigue may not be caused by these particular genes switching on or off.
Understanding what happens in ME/CFS patients' bodies during and after exercise is crucial for developing better treatments and possibly safe rehabilitation strategies. This study's finding that post-exertional fatigue occurs without measurable changes in these specific genes suggests researchers need to look at other biological mechanisms—such as different genes, proteins, metabolites, or cellular processes—to explain why exercise causes such severe symptoms in ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that genes are uninvolved in post-exertional malaise; it only shows these 19 specific genes did not significantly change after a single exercise bout. The study also cannot establish whether other genes, protein-level changes, metabolite abnormalities, or systems-level dysfunction cause the fatigue exacerbation. The small sample size limits statistical power and generalizability to the broader ME/CFS population.
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
Keech, Andrew, Vollmer-Conna, Ute, Barry, Benjamin K, & Lloyd, Andrew R (2016). Gene Expression in Response to Exercise in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Pilot Study.. Frontiers in physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2016.00421
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-keech-2016-gene-expression,
author = {Keech, Andrew and Vollmer-Conna, Ute and Barry, Benjamin K and Lloyd, Andrew R},
title = {Gene Expression in Response to Exercise in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Pilot Study.},
journal = {Frontiers in physiology},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.3389/fphys.2016.00421},
note = {PubMed: 27713703},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/keech-2016-gene-expression},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/keech-2016-gene-expression
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.