Pomroy, Haylie J, Mote, Arjun, Mathew, Simeon et al. · NeuroSci · 2025 · DOI
This review examines how certain compounds called AGEs (advanced glycation end products) form in food and in our bodies, and how they may contribute to brain damage and disease. AGEs are created when food is cooked at high temperatures or processed, and when they build up in the body, they can trigger inflammation and harm cells. The authors suggest that limiting AGEs in the diet might help prevent or slow down brain diseases, though more research is needed to confirm this.
ME/CFS is characterized by mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic inflammation, and potential neuroinflammation—all pathways activated by AGE-RAGE signaling. Understanding modifiable dietary factors that may exacerbate these mechanisms is relevant to patient management. This mechanistic framework could inform dietary intervention strategies and identify a potential contributing factor amenable to patient-level modification.
This review does not establish that AGEs directly cause ME/CFS or that dietary AGE restriction will improve ME/CFS symptoms—it presents mechanistic plausibility and identifies AGE-RAGE signaling as one of many potential pathogenic pathways. The study does not contain clinical trial data or direct measurements of AGE effects in ME/CFS populations, and correlation between dietary AGE exposure and disease severity has not been demonstrated in this patient population.
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 →
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Primary citation
Pomroy, Haylie J, Mote, Arjun, Mathew, Simeon, Chanasseril, Stebin, Lu, Victor, & Cheema, Amanpreet K (2025). From Fork to Brain: The Role of AGE-RAGE Signaling and the Western Diet in Neurodegenerative Disease.. NeuroSci. https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci6030089
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-pomroy-2025-fork-brain,
author = {Pomroy, Haylie J and Mote, Arjun and Mathew, Simeon and Chanasseril, Stebin and Lu, Victor and Cheema, Amanpreet K},
title = {From Fork to Brain: The Role of AGE-RAGE Signaling and the Western Diet in Neurodegenerative Disease.},
journal = {NeuroSci},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3390/neurosci6030089},
note = {PubMed: 40981264},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/pomroy-2025-fork-brain},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/pomroy-2025-fork-brain
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