Kim, Do-Young, Youn, Jaeyoung, Kang, Naeun et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2026 · DOI
This study looked at how treating the connection between the brain and gut might help people with ME/CFS and Long COVID. Researchers reviewed eight previous studies testing different treatments—including special nerve stimulation and probiotics—and also followed one patient who improved with a type of needle stimulation. Many of these treatments showed promise in reducing fatigue and post-exertional malaise, possibly by helping restore healthy gut bacteria and reduce brain inflammation.
This research highlights emerging therapeutic pathways targeting neuroinflammation and dysbiosis—core mechanisms increasingly implicated in ME/CFS pathophysiology. The synthesis suggests multiple brain-gut axis interventions warrant larger clinical trials, potentially offering new treatment options for patients with persistent fatigue and post-exertional malaise who lack effective conventional therapies.
This systematic review does not establish causal mechanisms by which brain-gut interventions improve ME/CFS symptoms, nor does it prove any single intervention is superior. The heterogeneous nature of included studies, variable outcome measures, and limited sample sizes mean these findings require validation through larger, rigorously controlled trials before clinical recommendations can be made. Individual case reports cannot determine efficacy for broader populations.
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
Kim, Do-Young, Youn, Jaeyoung, Kang, Naeun, Cho, Sung-Il, & Ha, In-Hyuk (2026). Potential application of brain-gut axis-based treatments in Long COVID and ME/CFS: a case-based systematic review.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-026-07807-w
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kim-2026-potential-application,
author = {Kim, Do-Young and Youn, Jaeyoung and Kang, Naeun and Cho, Sung-Il and Ha, In-Hyuk},
title = {Potential application of brain-gut axis-based treatments in Long COVID and ME/CFS: a case-based systematic review.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-026-07807-w},
note = {PubMed: 41668172},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kim-2026-potential-application},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kim-2026-potential-application
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