Loebel, Madlen, Strohschein, Kristin, Giannini, Carolin et al. · PloS one · 2014 · DOI
This study looked at how the immune system responds to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a common virus that causes mono, in people with ME/CFS compared to healthy controls. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients have a weaker immune response to EBV, particularly in their B cells and T cells—the immune cells that normally fight off this virus. The findings suggest that ME/CFS patients may have difficulty controlling EBV reactivation in their bodies.
This study provides mechanistic evidence that ME/CFS involves immune dysregulation specific to EBV rather than global immune suppression, which could explain why some patients develop ME/CFS following EBV infection. The findings support the hypothesis that deficient EBV-specific immunity may be both a consequence and contributing factor in ME/CFS, and suggest potential biomarkers for diagnosis and patient stratification.
This study does not prove that EBV causes ME/CFS, only that EBV-specific immune responses are impaired in affected patients—a finding that could reflect either cause or consequence of disease. The study cannot establish whether the deficient EBV response is unique to ME/CFS or shared with other conditions, nor does it demonstrate whether improving EBV control would ameliorate ME/CFS symptoms. The presence of more latent EBV replication does not establish clinical or functional significance.
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
Loebel, Madlen, Strohschein, Kristin, Giannini, Carolin, Koelsch, Uwe, Bauer, Sandra, Doebis, Cornelia, et al. (2014). Deficient EBV-specific B- and T-cell response in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085387
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-loebel-2014-deficient-ebv,
author = {Loebel, Madlen and Strohschein, Kristin and Giannini, Carolin and Koelsch, Uwe and Bauer, Sandra and Doebis, Cornelia and Thomas, Sybill and Unterwalder, Nadine and von Baehr, Volker and Reinke, Petra and Knops, Michael and Hanitsch, Leif G and Meisel, Christian and Volk, Hans-Dieter and Scheibenbogen, Carmen},
title = {Deficient EBV-specific B- and T-cell response in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0085387},
note = {PubMed: 24454857},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/loebel-2014-deficient-ebv},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/loebel-2014-deficient-ebv
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