Mensah, F, Bansal, A, Berkovitz, S et al. · Clinical and experimental immunology · 2016 · DOI
Researchers compared immune cells called B cells in people with ME/CFS and healthy people using specialized lab tests. While they didn't find major differences in the most common B cell types, they did discover subtle changes in how B cells are marked and organized in ME/CFS patients, particularly an increase in certain markers on specific B cell subsets. These findings suggest B cells may function differently in ME/CFS and could help explain why some patients improve with a drug that targets B cells.
This study provides immunological evidence supporting the role of B cells in ME/CFS pathogenesis, particularly relevant given recent clinical trials showing symptom improvement with rituximab (B cell depletion therapy). These novel phenotypic markers may help identify which patients are most likely to respond to B cell-targeted treatments and could guide future therapeutic strategies.
This study does not establish that these B cell changes cause ME/CFS symptoms or prove that B cell dysfunction is the primary driver of disease. The cross-sectional design cannot establish temporal relationships or whether these changes persist over time. The findings represent associations in a single cohort and require replication in other patient populations before clinical application.
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
Mensah, F, Bansal, A, Berkovitz, S, Sharma, A, Reddy, V, Leandro, M J, et al. (2016). Extended B cell phenotype in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a cross-sectional study.. Clinical and experimental immunology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cei.12749
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mensah-2016-extended-cell,
author = {Mensah, F and Bansal, A and Berkovitz, S and Sharma, A and Reddy, V and Leandro, M J and Cambridge, G},
title = {Extended B cell phenotype in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a cross-sectional study.},
journal = {Clinical and experimental immunology},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1111/cei.12749},
note = {PubMed: 26646713},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mensah-2016-extended-cell},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mensah-2016-extended-cell
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