Petty, Robert D, McCarthy, Neil E, Le Dieu, Rifca et al. · PloS one · 2016 · DOI
This study examined tiny molecules called microRNAs in immune cells from ME/CFS patients and healthy people. Researchers found that four specific microRNAs were abnormally high in patients' blood, particularly in natural killer (NK) immune cells. When they tested these microRNAs in the lab, they found they affected how NK cells work, suggesting this might contribute to ME/CFS symptoms.
This work identifies potential blood-based diagnostic biomarkers for ME/CFS—a disease without approved biomarkers—and provides mechanistic insight into how NK cell dysfunction may contribute to pathology. Understanding the role of microRNAs in immune dysregulation could open new avenues for both diagnosis and targeted therapeutic interventions.
This study does not prove that these microRNAs cause ME/CFS; it only shows they are associated with the disease. The findings are correlational and based on in vitro functional studies, not evidence that correcting these microRNAs would improve patient outcomes. Additionally, the mechanisms linking NK cell dysfunction to systemic ME/CFS symptoms remain unclear.
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
Petty, Robert D, McCarthy, Neil E, Le Dieu, Rifca, & Kerr, Jonathan R (2016). MicroRNAs hsa-miR-99b, hsa-miR-330, hsa-miR-126 and hsa-miR-30c: Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers in Natural Killer (NK) Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150904
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-petty-2016-micrornas-hsa,
author = {Petty, Robert D and McCarthy, Neil E and Le Dieu, Rifca and Kerr, Jonathan R},
title = {MicroRNAs hsa-miR-99b, hsa-miR-330, hsa-miR-126 and hsa-miR-30c: Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers in Natural Killer (NK) Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0150904},
note = {PubMed: 26967895},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/petty-2016-micrornas-hsa},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/petty-2016-micrornas-hsa
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