Leese, G, Chattington, P, Fraser, W et al. · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 1996 · DOI
This study found that nurses who worked night shifts for just 5 days showed abnormal stress hormone patterns similar to those seen in ME/CFS patients. Specifically, their bodies produced high levels of one stress hormone (ACTH) but low levels of another (cortisol) during night shifts. This suggests that disrupted sleep and routine alone may be enough to trigger the hormone imbalances characteristic of ME/CFS.
This mechanistic study provides a potential biological explanation for the neuroendocrine abnormalities observed in ME/CFS by demonstrating that short-term circadian disruption alone can induce similar HPA axis dysfunction. Understanding whether ME/CFS neuroendocrine findings are consequences of disrupted sleep-wake cycles rather than primary disease mechanisms has implications for therapeutic strategies and disease etiology.
This study does not prove that circadian disruption is the sole cause of ME/CFS or that all HPA abnormalities in ME/CFS patients result from sleep disruption alone. The study uses healthy shift workers as an analogue model and does not directly compare ME/CFS patients; therefore, it cannot establish whether ME/CFS patients have the same underlying mechanism or additional independent pathology. Correlation between patterns does not establish causation in either population.
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
Leese, G, Chattington, P, Fraser, W, Vora, J, Edwards, R, & Williams, G (1996). Short-term night-shift working mimics the pituitary-adrenocortical dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome.. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem.81.5.8626849
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-leese-1996-short-term,
author = {Leese, G and Chattington, P and Fraser, W and Vora, J and Edwards, R and Williams, G},
title = {Short-term night-shift working mimics the pituitary-adrenocortical dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism},
year = {1996},
doi = {10.1210/jcem.81.5.8626849},
note = {PubMed: 8626849},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/leese-1996-short-term},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/leese-1996-short-term
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.