Rasmussen, A K, Nielsen, H, Andersen, V et al. · The Journal of rheumatology · 1994
Researchers compared immune system markers in 21 people with ME/CFS to 21 healthy controls to see if immune problems might cause the illness. They found that people with ME/CFS produced higher levels of certain immune signaling molecules and had slightly different antibody patterns, but overall immune system differences between the groups were small. The study suggests the immune system may be out of balance in ME/CFS, but doesn't prove this imbalance actually causes the disease.
This study provides early systematic evidence that immune dysregulation exists in ME/CFS, contributing to the biological understanding of the disease beyond purely psychological explanations. The findings support continued investigation into immune mechanisms that might underlie symptom generation and suggest potential biomarkers worth exploring in larger studies.
This study does not prove that immune abnormalities cause ME/CFS—it only demonstrates correlation in a small sample. The cross-sectional design cannot establish temporal relationships or whether immune changes precede, follow, or are secondary to other disease processes. The modest differences in most immune measures suggest the immune dysfunction, if present, is complex and not a simple, uniform deficiency.
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
Rasmussen, A K, Nielsen, H, Andersen, V, Barington, T, Bendtzen, K, Hansen, M B, et al. (1994). Chronic fatigue syndrome--a controlled cross sectional study.. The Journal of rheumatology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7983659/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-rasmussen-1994-chronic-fatigue-3,
author = {Rasmussen, A K and Nielsen, H and Andersen, V and Barington, T and Bendtzen, K and Hansen, M B and Nielsen, L and Pedersen, B K and Wiik, A},
title = {Chronic fatigue syndrome--a controlled cross sectional study.},
journal = {The Journal of rheumatology},
year = {1994},
note = {PubMed: 7983659},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/rasmussen-1994-chronic-fatigue-3},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/rasmussen-1994-chronic-fatigue-3
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