Morris, Gerwyn, Maes, Michael · Metabolic brain disease · 2014 · DOI
This study explains how ME/CFS may damage the mitochondria—the energy-producing units inside our cells. The researchers found that inflammation, immune system overactivity, and harmful molecules called oxidative stress can interfere with how mitochondria produce energy (ATP), which is why ME/CFS patients experience extreme fatigue and post-exertional malaise. Low levels of protective vitamins and minerals also make this problem worse.
Understanding how mitochondrial dysfunction develops in ME/CFS provides a biological framework for the debilitating fatigue and post-exertional malaise patients experience, moving beyond dismissing symptoms as psychological. This knowledge could guide future interventions targeting inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial support through nutritional or pharmaceutical approaches.
This review does not establish causation—only that these pathways plausibly explain mitochondrial dysfunction. It does not provide direct clinical trial evidence that treating inflammation or oxidative stress reverses ME/CFS symptoms in patients. The study cannot confirm which pathway (inflammatory, oxidative, or nutritional deficiency) is primary or most amenable to treatment.
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
Morris, Gerwyn & Maes, Michael (2014). Mitochondrial dysfunctions in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome explained by activated immuno-inflammatory, oxidative and nitrosative stress pathways.. Metabolic brain disease. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-013-9435-x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-morris-2014-mitochondrial-dysfunctions,
author = {Morris, Gerwyn and Maes, Michael},
title = {Mitochondrial dysfunctions in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome explained by activated immuno-inflammatory, oxidative and nitrosative stress pathways.},
journal = {Metabolic brain disease},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1007/s11011-013-9435-x},
note = {PubMed: 24557875},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/morris-2014-mitochondrial-dysfunctions},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/morris-2014-mitochondrial-dysfunctions
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