Kitami, Toshimori, Fukuda, Sanae, Kato, Tamotsu et al. · Scientific reports · 2020 · DOI
Researchers studied 48 ME/CFS patients and 52 healthy people in Japan to find biological markers of the disease. They tested blood samples, gut bacteria, immune cells, and sleep patterns, identifying 26 potential markers that differ between patients and healthy people. Three markers stood out as most important: certain types of white blood cells, gut bacteria composition, and fat-like molecules in the blood, which were especially linked to sleep problems in ME/CFS patients.
This study is significant because ME/CFS currently lacks objective diagnostic tests and approved treatments. By identifying specific molecular patterns in blood and gut bacteria that distinguish ME/CFS patients from healthy people, this research offers hope for developing diagnostic blood tests and understanding disease mechanisms. The finding that sleep disruption correlates with specific metabolic and immune changes may eventually guide treatment strategies.
This study does not establish whether the identified markers cause ME/CFS or result from it—correlation does not prove causation. The findings may not apply to ME/CFS patients outside Japan due to genetic and environmental differences. The study's cross-sectional design cannot determine if these markers appear before symptom onset or how they change over the course of illness.
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
Kitami, Toshimori, Fukuda, Sanae, Kato, Tamotsu, Yamaguti, Kouzi, Nakatomi, Yasuhito, Yamano, Emi, et al. (2020). Deep phenotyping of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome in Japanese population.. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77105-y
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kitami-2020-deep-phenotyping,
author = {Kitami, Toshimori and Fukuda, Sanae and Kato, Tamotsu and Yamaguti, Kouzi and Nakatomi, Yasuhito and Yamano, Emi and Kataoka, Yosky and Mizuno, Kei and Tsuboi, Yuuri and Kogo, Yasushi and Suzuki, Harukazu and Itoh, Masayoshi and Morioka, Masaki Suimye and Kawaji, Hideya and Koseki, Haruhiko and Kikuchi, Jun and Hayashizaki, Yoshihide and Ohno, Hiroshi and Kuratsune, Hirohiko and Watanabe, Yasuyoshi},
title = {Deep phenotyping of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome in Japanese population.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-020-77105-y},
note = {PubMed: 33199820},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kitami-2020-deep-phenotyping},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kitami-2020-deep-phenotyping
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