Maes, Michael, Mihaylova, Ivana, De Ruyter, Marcel · Journal of affective disorders · 2006 · DOI
This study found that people with ME/CFS have lower levels of zinc in their blood compared to healthy people. The lower the zinc level, the worse some symptoms were, especially feelings of infection. Zinc helps protect the body from harmful molecules called free radicals, so low zinc may be one reason why ME/CFS involves increased stress and damage in the body.
Low zinc status could be a treatable biomarker and potential therapeutic target in ME/CFS. This finding connects immune dysfunction and oxidative stress—two hallmark features of the disease—to a specific micronutrient that can be supplemented, offering a potential avenue for symptomatic or disease-modifying treatment.
This study does not prove that low zinc *causes* ME/CFS or that zinc supplementation will improve symptoms, as it only shows association, not causation. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether zinc deficiency precedes CFS onset or develops as a consequence. Individual responses to zinc supplementation were not tested.
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
Maes, Michael, Mihaylova, Ivana, & De Ruyter, Marcel (2006). Lower serum zinc in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): relationships to immune dysfunctions and relevance for the oxidative stress status in CFS.. Journal of affective disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2005.11.002
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-maes-2006-lower-serum,
author = {Maes, Michael and Mihaylova, Ivana and De Ruyter, Marcel},
title = {Lower serum zinc in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): relationships to immune dysfunctions and relevance for the oxidative stress status in CFS.},
journal = {Journal of affective disorders},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1016/j.jad.2005.11.002},
note = {PubMed: 16338007},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2006-lower-serum},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2006-lower-serum
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