O'Neal, Adam J, Glass, Katherine A, Emig, Christopher J et al. · Proteomes · 2022 · DOI
Researchers tested blood samples from ME/CFS patients to look for antibodies against 122 different germs that might trigger the illness. They compared the results to healthy people of similar age, sex, and weight. While they found differences in how men and women with ME/CFS respond to infections, they couldn't identify one specific germ as the culprit.
Understanding whether infections trigger ME/CFS and how immune responses differ between men and women could help explain why symptoms develop and why they may vary by sex. These insights could eventually lead to better diagnostic tests and targeted treatments for ME/CFS patients.
This study does not prove that any single infection causes ME/CFS, nor does it rule out common viruses and bacteria as potential triggers. The presence of antibodies simply shows past or present exposure to a pathogen, not necessarily that it caused the disease. Correlation between antibody patterns and ME/CFS does not establish causation.
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
O'Neal, Adam J, Glass, Katherine A, Emig, Christopher J, Vitug, Adela A, Henry, Steven J, Shungu, Dikoma C, et al. (2022). Survey of Anti-Pathogen Antibody Levels in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Proteomes. https://doi.org/10.3390/proteomes10020021
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-oneal-2022-survey-anti,
author = {O'Neal, Adam J and Glass, Katherine A and Emig, Christopher J and Vitug, Adela A and Henry, Steven J and Shungu, Dikoma C and Mao, Xiangling and Levine, Susan M and Hanson, Maureen R},
title = {Survey of Anti-Pathogen Antibody Levels in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Proteomes},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3390/proteomes10020021},
note = {PubMed: 35736801},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/oneal-2022-survey-anti},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/oneal-2022-survey-anti
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