Maes, Michael, Leunis, Jean-Claude · Neuro endocrinology letters · 2008
This study tested whether taking natural anti-inflammatory supplements (glutamine, N-acetyl cysteine, and zinc) along with a special diet could help ME/CFS patients whose intestines had become too permeable ("leaky gut"). Researchers measured immune markers in the blood before and after 10-14 months of treatment and found that 24 out of 41 patients improved significantly, with the best results in younger patients and those with shorter illness duration.
This study provides preliminary evidence that intestinal barrier dysfunction (leaky gut) may be a treatable mechanism in ME/CFS and suggests a potential therapeutic target. The finding that symptom improvement correlates with normalization of specific immune markers offers a measurable outcome that could guide future treatment development and patient monitoring.
This study does not prove that leaky gut causes ME/CFS—it only shows an association. The lack of a control group and placebo arm means we cannot determine how much improvement was due to the treatment versus natural variation, regression to the mean, or placebo effect. The small sample size and single-arm design limit generalizability.
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 & Leunis, Jean-Claude (2008). Normalization of leaky gut in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is accompanied by a clinical improvement: effects of age, duration of illness and the translocation of LPS from gram-negative bacteria.. Neuro endocrinology letters. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19112401/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-maes-2008-normalization-leaky,
author = {Maes, Michael and Leunis, Jean-Claude},
title = {Normalization of leaky gut in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is accompanied by a clinical improvement: effects of age, duration of illness and the translocation of LPS from gram-negative bacteria.},
journal = {Neuro endocrinology letters},
year = {2008},
note = {PubMed: 19112401},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2008-normalization-leaky},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2008-normalization-leaky
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