Kerr, Jonathan · Biomolecules · 2020 · DOI
This study looked at specific genes called EGR genes that turn on in response to stress and infection. Researchers found that these genes were abnormally active in blood samples from some ME/CFS patients, and this activity matched up with signs of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation. This suggests that in some people with ME/CFS, a dormant virus may be waking up and triggering an ongoing immune response.
Understanding whether EBV reactivation drives ME/CFS symptoms in some patients could open new diagnostic and treatment approaches, potentially offering antiviral or immune-modulating therapies to a subset of sufferers. This work supports the biological plausibility of ME/CFS as a disease with measurable molecular abnormalities rather than a purely psychological condition.
This study does not prove that EBV reactivation causes ME/CFS or that treating EBV will cure the disease. Finding correlated gene expression does not establish causation, and the study only examined a subset of patients—many ME/CFS patients may not have elevated EGR gene expression. The clinical significance of these molecular findings for individual patients remains unclear.
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 →
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Primary citation
Kerr, Jonathan (2020). Early Growth Response Gene Upregulation in Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Associated Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).. Biomolecules. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10111484
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kerr-2020-early-growth,
author = {Kerr, Jonathan},
title = {Early Growth Response Gene Upregulation in Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Associated Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).},
journal = {Biomolecules},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3390/biom10111484},
note = {PubMed: 33114612},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kerr-2020-early-growth},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kerr-2020-early-growth
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