Lebedeva, A V, Shchukin, I A, Soldatov, M A et al. · Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova · 2014
This study looked at 35 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who experienced severe fatigue and mood problems. Researchers gave them a supplement called idebenon for 6 months and found it reduced their fatigue, tiredness, and depression. While this is interesting, it's important to note this study focused on MS patients, not ME/CFS patients, though both conditions involve fatigue.
While this study examined MS rather than ME/CFS, understanding how mitochondrial support agents like idebenon affect fatigue and mood in neurological conditions is relevant to ME/CFS research, since some evidence suggests mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to ME/CFS pathology. The findings on idebenon's tolerability and dosing may inform future ME/CFS intervention research.
This study does not prove that idebenon is effective for ME/CFS patients, as it examined only MS patients. The absence of a placebo control group means improvements could reflect placebo effect, natural disease course, or regression to the mean rather than true drug efficacy. The open-label design and lack of randomization prevent causal conclusions about idebenon's mechanism.
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
Lebedeva, A V, Shchukin, I A, Soldatov, M A, Boĭko, O V, Petrov, S V, Khozova, A A, et al. (2014). [Asthenia, emotional disorders and quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis].. Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25591540/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lebedeva-2014-asthenia-emotional,
author = {Lebedeva, A V and Shchukin, I A and Soldatov, M A and Boĭko, O V and Petrov, S V and Khozova, A A and Ismailov, A M and Shikhkerimov, R K and Boĭko, A N},
title = {[Asthenia, emotional disorders and quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis].},
journal = {Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii imeni S.S. Korsakova},
year = {2014},
note = {PubMed: 25591540},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lebedeva-2014-asthenia-emotional},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lebedeva-2014-asthenia-emotional
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