Maes, Michael, Leunis, Jean-Claude · Neuro endocrinology letters · 2014
This study looked at whether certain harmful substances in the blood of ME/CFS patients were linked to how sick they felt. Researchers gave 76 patients with ME/CFS supplements designed to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, and found that patients whose levels of these harmful substances decreased the most—particularly those related to fat oxidation—reported feeling better. However, another type of harmful substance (related to nitrosative stress) didn't show this same connection to improvement.
This research suggests that oxidative stress-related autoimmune responses may be a treatable mechanism in a subset of ME/CFS patients, potentially identifying which patients might benefit from targeted antioxidant therapy. It provides mechanistic insight into why some patients improve with certain supplements and points toward a biomarker-guided treatment approach.
This study does not prove that reducing OSE-related autoimmune responses causes clinical improvement, only that they are associated. The lack of a randomized control group means we cannot determine whether symptom improvement was due to the supplements, natural disease fluctuation, placebo effect, or other lifestyle changes. The findings may only apply to the specific subgroup of ME/CFS patients with initially elevated autoimmune responses to OSEs.
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 →
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Primary citation
Maes, Michael & Leunis, Jean-Claude (2014). Attenuation of autoimmune responses to oxidative specific epitopes, but not nitroso-adducts, is associated with a better clinical outcome in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Neuro endocrinology letters. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25617880/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-maes-2014-attenuation-autoimmune,
author = {Maes, Michael and Leunis, Jean-Claude},
title = {Attenuation of autoimmune responses to oxidative specific epitopes, but not nitroso-adducts, is associated with a better clinical outcome in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Neuro endocrinology letters},
year = {2014},
note = {PubMed: 25617880},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2014-attenuation-autoimmune},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2014-attenuation-autoimmune
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