Lee, Jin-Seok, Kang, Ji-Yun, Park, Samuel-Young et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2024 · DOI
Researchers found that excess serotonin (a brain chemical) in a specific brain region called the dorsal raphe nuclei can cause fatigue and symptoms similar to ME/CFS in mice. They tested this by giving mice high doses of common antidepressants (SSRIs) that increase serotonin levels, and the mice developed severe tiredness, difficulty with physical activity, and problems with their stress response system. This suggests that too much serotonin activity in the brain might be involved in causing ME/CFS symptoms.
This study provides the first experimental evidence linking excessive serotonin activity in the brain to ME/CFS-like symptoms, offering a potential new biological target for understanding disease mechanisms. If validated in human patients, it could guide development of novel therapies and help explain why some patients may respond differently to standard antidepressant treatments. The animal model developed here provides a tool for testing future treatments.
This study does not prove that excessive serotonin is the sole or primary cause of ME/CFS in humans—it demonstrates a mechanism that produces ME/CFS-like symptoms in mice under artificial conditions. The findings do not establish whether ME/CFS patients have abnormally high serotonin levels naturally, nor do they explain all ME/CFS cases or rule out other contributing mechanisms. Animal models do not always translate to human 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
Lee, Jin-Seok, Kang, Ji-Yun, Park, Samuel-Young, Hwang, Seung-Ju, Bae, Sung-Jin, & Son, Chang-Gue (2024). Central 5-HTergic hyperactivity induces myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)-like pathophysiology.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-023-04808-x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lee-2024-central-htergic,
author = {Lee, Jin-Seok and Kang, Ji-Yun and Park, Samuel-Young and Hwang, Seung-Ju and Bae, Sung-Jin and Son, Chang-Gue},
title = {Central 5-HTergic hyperactivity induces myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)-like pathophysiology.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-023-04808-x},
note = {PubMed: 38191373},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lee-2024-central-htergic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lee-2024-central-htergic
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