Lackeyram, D, Mine, Y, Widowski, T et al. · Journal of animal science · 2012 · DOI
Researchers gave young pigs either hydrogen peroxide (a substance that causes oxidative stress, similar to cellular damage) or saline over 10 days to study how oxidative stress might affect ME/CFS. Pigs given hydrogen peroxide showed reduced antioxidant levels, less physical activity, and decreased ability to digest certain carbohydrates in their intestines. This suggests that oxidative stress may interfere with how the gut breaks down food, which could contribute to fatigue and other ME/CFS symptoms.
ME/CFS is known to involve oxidative stress, but the mechanisms linking cellular damage to fatigue remain unclear. This study provides experimental evidence that oxidative stress can selectively impair intestinal enzyme function and reduce physical activity, suggesting a potential biological pathway connecting oxidative damage to ME/CFS symptoms. Understanding these mechanisms could lead to targeted therapeutic interventions addressing gut dysfunction in ME/CFS patients.
This animal model study does not prove that oxidative stress causes ME/CFS in humans or that the same enzyme defects occur in ME/CFS patients. The findings are correlational within an artificial oxidative stress model and do not establish whether intestinal enzyme dysfunction is primary or secondary in ME/CFS pathogenesis. Results from neonatal pigs may not translate directly to adult human physiology or disease.
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
Lackeyram, D, Mine, Y, Widowski, T, Archbold, T, & Fan, M Z (2012). The in vivo infusion of hydrogen peroxide induces oxidative stress and differentially affects the activities of small intestinal carbohydrate digestive enzymes in the neonatal pig.. Journal of animal science. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.54011
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lackeyram-2012-vivo-infusion,
author = {Lackeyram, D and Mine, Y and Widowski, T and Archbold, T and Fan, M Z},
title = {The in vivo infusion of hydrogen peroxide induces oxidative stress and differentially affects the activities of small intestinal carbohydrate digestive enzymes in the neonatal pig.},
journal = {Journal of animal science},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.2527/jas.54011},
note = {PubMed: 23365398},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lackeyram-2012-vivo-infusion},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lackeyram-2012-vivo-infusion
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