Lloyd, A R, Wakefield, D, Boughton, C R et al. · The Medical journal of Australia · 1989 · DOI
This study compared the immune systems of 100 ME/CFS patients with 100 healthy people to see if immune problems might explain why ME/CFS causes such severe fatigue. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients had fewer immune cells and weaker immune responses than healthy people. These findings suggest that problems with how the immune system works may be involved in causing ME/CFS.
This landmark study provides objective evidence that ME/CFS involves measurable immune system dysfunction, moving beyond symptom description to biological markers. Understanding these immunological abnormalities may help explain disease mechanisms and guide development of immune-targeted therapies. For patients, documenting immune dysfunction helps validate that ME/CFS has a biological basis rather than being purely psychological.
This study does not prove that immune dysfunction causes ME/CFS—only that it is associated with the disease. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of whether immune abnormalities precede symptom onset or develop as a consequence of chronic illness. The study also does not identify which immune disturbances (if any) are most clinically significant or whether correcting them would improve symptoms.
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
Lloyd, A R, Wakefield, D, Boughton, C R, & Dwyer, J M (1989). Immunological abnormalities in the chronic fatigue syndrome.. The Medical journal of Australia. https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1989.tb139594.x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-lloyd-1989-immunological-abnormalities,
author = {Lloyd, A R and Wakefield, D and Boughton, C R and Dwyer, J M},
title = {Immunological abnormalities in the chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {The Medical journal of Australia},
year = {1989},
doi = {10.5694/j.1326-5377.1989.tb139594.x},
note = {PubMed: 2787888},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lloyd-1989-immunological-abnormalities},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/lloyd-1989-immunological-abnormalities
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.