Lechner, Johann, Schmidt, Marlene, von Baehr, Volker et al. · Journal of inflammation research · 2021 · DOI
This study examined jawbone abnormalities in 301 patients with various chronic illnesses, including ME/CFS. Researchers found that patients with bone loss in the jawbone had elevated levels of a chemical messenger called RANTES/CCL5, which promotes inflammation. These findings were consistent across all disease groups studied, suggesting that jawbone problems may contribute to systemic inflammation in multiple conditions.
For ME/CFS patients, this study suggests that undetected jawbone pathology could be a previously overlooked source of systemic inflammation via chemokine signaling. If validated, identifying and treating BMDJ might represent a novel therapeutic approach to reducing the chronic inflammation associated with ME/CFS and other immune-mediated conditions.
This study does not establish causation—it cannot prove that BMDJ causes systemic disease or that treating BMDJ will improve ME/CFS symptoms. It lacks a control group of healthy patients without BMDJ, so it cannot determine whether BMDJ and elevated RANTES/CCL5 are truly abnormal or how prevalent they are in the general population. The cross-sectional design and small sample sizes within disease subgroups limit generalizability.
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
Lechner, Johann, Schmidt, Marlene, von Baehr, Volker, & Schick, Fabian (2021). Undetected Jawbone Marrow Defects as Inflammatory and Degenerative Signaling Pathways: Chemokine RANTES/CCL5 as a Possible Link Between the Jawbone and Systemic Interactions?. Journal of inflammation research. https://doi.org/10.2147/JIR.S307635
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lechner-2021-undetected-jawbone,
author = {Lechner, Johann and Schmidt, Marlene and von Baehr, Volker and Schick, Fabian},
title = {Undetected Jawbone Marrow Defects as Inflammatory and Degenerative Signaling Pathways: Chemokine RANTES/CCL5 as a Possible Link Between the Jawbone and Systemic Interactions?},
journal = {Journal of inflammation research},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.2147/JIR.S307635},
note = {PubMed: 33911892},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lechner-2021-undetected-jawbone},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lechner-2021-undetected-jawbone
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