Li, Kefeng, Naviaux, Jane C, Bright, A Taylor et al. · Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2017 · DOI
Researchers developed a new, efficient blood test that can measure over 600 different molecules (metabolites) in a single sample to help diagnose ME/CFS. The test was validated by showing it could correctly identify ME/CFS patients with 95% accuracy compared to healthy controls, even when tested again more than a year later by different researchers.
This study presents a practical, scalable metabolomic platform that could facilitate objective biological diagnosis of ME/CFS—a disease that currently lacks validated biomarkers. The method's reproducibility across time, instruments, and operators suggests it may enable multicenter research and clinical translation of metabolite-based diagnostic signatures for ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that these metabolite signatures cause ME/CFS or explain the underlying mechanisms of disease. It also does not establish whether this method will work in female patients, more diverse populations, or patients with other chronic illnesses, and does not validate the test's performance in blinded clinical diagnostic settings. The small sample size (22 CFS cases) limits generalizability of the diagnostic accuracy findings.
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 →
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Primary citation
Li, Kefeng, Naviaux, Jane C, Bright, A Taylor, Wang, Lin, & Naviaux, Robert K (2017). A robust, single-injection method for targeted, broad-spectrum plasma metabolomics.. Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-017-1264-1
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-li-2017-robust-single,
author = {Li, Kefeng and Naviaux, Jane C and Bright, A Taylor and Wang, Lin and Naviaux, Robert K},
title = {A robust, single-injection method for targeted, broad-spectrum plasma metabolomics.},
journal = {Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1007/s11306-017-1264-1},
note = {PubMed: 28943831},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2017-robust-single},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2017-robust-single
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