Maes, Michael, Coucke, Francis, Leunis, Jean-Claude · Neuro endocrinology letters · 2007
This study describes a teenage girl with ME/CFS who had damage to her gut lining, allowing bacterial toxins to leak into her bloodstream. When she was treated with antioxidants, dietary changes to repair her gut, and immune support therapy, the leaky gut improved and her ME/CFS symptoms disappeared. The findings suggest that gut damage may play a role in some ME/CFS cases.
This case suggests a potential biological mechanism linking intestinal dysfunction to ME/CFS symptoms, which could guide future treatment approaches targeting gut health. If intestinal permeability contributes to ME/CFS in a subset of patients, it opens avenues for personalized diagnostic testing and targeted interventions beyond symptom management.
This single case report cannot prove that leaky gut causes ME/CFS or that this treatment works for all patients with the condition. The temporal relationship between treatment and remission does not establish causation, as spontaneous remission or placebo effects could explain the outcome. The findings are not generalizable and require validation through controlled clinical trials.
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, Coucke, Francis, & Leunis, Jean-Claude (2007). Normalization of the increased translocation of endotoxin from gram negative enterobacteria (leaky gut) is accompanied by a remission of chronic fatigue syndrome.. Neuro endocrinology letters. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18063928/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-maes-2007-normalization-increased,
author = {Maes, Michael and Coucke, Francis and Leunis, Jean-Claude},
title = {Normalization of the increased translocation of endotoxin from gram negative enterobacteria (leaky gut) is accompanied by a remission of chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Neuro endocrinology letters},
year = {2007},
note = {PubMed: 18063928},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2007-normalization-increased},
}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-normalization-increased
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