Maes, Michael, Mihaylova, Ivana, Bosmans, Eugene · Neuro endocrinology letters · 2007
This study found that people with ME/CFS have higher levels of a molecule called NF-kappa-beta in their white blood cells, both at rest and when stimulated by immune signals. This molecule controls inflammation and stress responses in cells. The higher the NF-kappa-beta levels, the more severe patients' symptoms—including fatigue, muscle pain, and feeling sick—were reported to be.
This study provides biological evidence that ME/CFS involves real cellular inflammation rather than psychological causes, addressing long-standing stigma. By identifying NF-kappa-beta as a central regulatory mechanism, it offers a potential biological marker for disease severity and suggests testable therapeutic targets through antioxidant interventions.
This study does not establish that NF-kappa-beta elevation causes ME/CFS symptoms or that treating it will improve outcomes; it only shows correlation. The small sample size (n=18 per group) and cross-sectional design limit generalizability, and the study does not demonstrate whether NF-kappa-beta changes are primary drivers of pathology or secondary consequences of the disease.
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, & Bosmans, Eugene (2007). Not in the mind of neurasthenic lazybones but in the cell nucleus: patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have increased production of nuclear factor kappa beta.. Neuro endocrinology letters. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17693979/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-maes-2007-mind-neurasthenic,
author = {Maes, Michael and Mihaylova, Ivana and Bosmans, Eugene},
title = {Not in the mind of neurasthenic lazybones but in the cell nucleus: patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have increased production of nuclear factor kappa beta.},
journal = {Neuro endocrinology letters},
year = {2007},
note = {PubMed: 17693979},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2007-mind-neurasthenic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2007-mind-neurasthenic
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