Raijmakers, Ruud P H, Roerink, Megan E, Jansen, Anne F M et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2020 · DOI
This study compared people with Q fever fatigue syndrome (a prolonged tiredness that develops after a Q fever infection) to people with ME/CFS and healthy controls. Researchers examined three types of biological markers: gut bacteria, blood chemicals, and inflammatory proteins. They found that people with Q fever fatigue syndrome have very similar patterns to ME/CFS patients, suggesting these two conditions may share similar underlying biological mechanisms.
This research suggests that Q fever fatigue syndrome and ME/CFS may share common biological pathways, which could help explain why both conditions cause similar prolonged fatigue symptoms. Identifying shared inflammatory markers (4E-BP1 and MMP-1) and metabolic changes provides potential biomarkers for diagnosis and could guide future treatment approaches for both conditions.
This study does not prove that Q fever causes ME/CFS or that the two conditions are identical—only that they share similar biological signatures. The cross-sectional design means we cannot determine whether these molecular changes cause fatigue or are consequences of it. The findings are correlational and do not establish mechanistic causation or therapeutic interventions.
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
Raijmakers, Ruud P H, Roerink, Megan E, Jansen, Anne F M, Keijmel, Stephan P, Gacesa, Ranko, Li, Yang, et al. (2020). Multi-omics examination of Q fever fatigue syndrome identifies similarities with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-020-02585-5
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-raijmakers-2020-multi-omics,
author = {Raijmakers, Ruud P H and Roerink, Megan E and Jansen, Anne F M and Keijmel, Stephan P and Gacesa, Ranko and Li, Yang and Joosten, Leo A B and van der Meer, Jos W M and Netea, Mihai G and Bleeker-Rovers, Chantal P and Xu, Cheng-Jian},
title = {Multi-omics examination of Q fever fatigue syndrome identifies similarities with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-020-02585-5},
note = {PubMed: 33243243},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/raijmakers-2020-multi-omics},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/raijmakers-2020-multi-omics
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