Maes, Michael, Kubera, Marta, Kotańska, Magdalena · Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022 · DOI
This study examined proteins and metabolites in ME/CFS patients to understand how the disease works at a molecular level. Researchers found that ME/CFS involves problems with three interconnected cellular systems: how cells handle harmful oxidative stress, how the immune system responds through inflammation, and how cells communicate through a pathway called Wnt/β-catenin. The study suggests ME/CFS may be triggered by various causes—like infections or toxic exposures—but they all damage these same three systems.
Understanding the molecular pathways underlying ME/CFS is crucial for developing targeted treatments. This study identifies three interconnected systems—oxidative stress, immune dysfunction, and cell communication—as central to disease pathogenesis, potentially guiding future therapeutic strategies. These findings support the biological basis of ME/CFS and may help explain why patients respond differently to various triggers.
This network analysis cannot determine causation—only that these pathways are associated with ME/CFS. It does not identify which aberrations are primary causes versus secondary effects of the disease. The study cannot validate whether normalizing these pathways would actually improve patient symptoms, nor does it establish whether specific infectious or toxic triggers always activate this same network.
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, Kubera, Marta, & Kotańska, Magdalena (2022). Aberrations in the Cross-Talks Among Redox, Nuclear Factor-κB, and Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway Signaling Underpin Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Frontiers in psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.822382
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-maes-2022-aberrations-cross,
author = {Maes, Michael and Kubera, Marta and Kotańska, Magdalena},
title = {Aberrations in the Cross-Talks Among Redox, Nuclear Factor-κB, and Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway Signaling Underpin Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Frontiers in psychiatry},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3389/fpsyt.2022.822382},
note = {PubMed: 35599774},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2022-aberrations-cross},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/maes-2022-aberrations-cross
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