Nguyen, T, Johnston, S, Clarke, L et al. · Clinical and experimental immunology · 2017 · DOI
This study examined immune cells called natural killer cells in ME/CFS patients and healthy people to understand how calcium moves in and out of these cells. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients have lower levels of a specific channel (TRPM3) that helps control calcium movement in certain types of natural killer cells. The study suggests that problems with calcium signaling in these immune cells may contribute to how the immune system behaves differently in ME/CFS patients.
Understanding how calcium signaling is disrupted in ME/CFS immune cells could help explain why natural killer cells—which normally protect against infections and cancer—may not function properly in this disease. This research provides cellular-level evidence that ME/CFS involves specific, measurable immune dysfunction, supporting the biological basis of the condition and potentially opening new avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions.
This study does not prove that TRPM3 dysfunction causes ME/CFS, only that an association exists. The small sample size and lack of clinical correlation data mean findings cannot be generalized to all ME/CFS patients or definitively linked to symptom severity. The study is also cross-sectional, so it cannot determine whether TRPM3 changes occur before disease onset or result from having ME/CFS.
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
Nguyen, T, Johnston, S, Clarke, L, Smith, P, Staines, D, & Marshall-Gradisnik, S (2017). Impaired calcium mobilization in natural killer cells from chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis patients is associated with transient receptor potential melastatin 3 ion channels.. Clinical and experimental immunology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cei.12882
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-nguyen-2017-impaired-calcium,
author = {Nguyen, T and Johnston, S and Clarke, L and Smith, P and Staines, D and Marshall-Gradisnik, S},
title = {Impaired calcium mobilization in natural killer cells from chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis patients is associated with transient receptor potential melastatin 3 ion channels.},
journal = {Clinical and experimental immunology},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1111/cei.12882},
note = {PubMed: 27727448},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/nguyen-2017-impaired-calcium},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/nguyen-2017-impaired-calcium
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