Renz-Polster, Herbert, Tremblay, Marie-Eve, Bienzle, Dorothee et al. · Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2022 · DOI
This study suggests that ME/CFS might be caused by problems with certain support cells in the brain called glia, which help protect and maintain nerve cells. The researchers reviewed existing research on two key ME/CFS symptoms—feeling worse after activity and reduced blood flow to the brain—and found evidence that brain cell dysfunction could explain many of the different problems seen in ME/CFS.
This hypothesis offers a potentially unifying framework for understanding ME/CFS's complex, multisystem pathology, which has historically been fragmented across competing mechanisms. If neuroglial dysfunction is indeed central to ME/CFS, it could redirect research and therapeutic development toward novel treatments targeting brain glial cells. The proposal that similar mechanisms may apply to long COVID could accelerate understanding of both conditions.
This review-based mechanistic study does not provide direct evidence that glial dysfunction actually occurs in ME/CFS patients—it synthesizes existing literature to propose a hypothesis. The study cannot prove causation or establish whether glial problems are primary drivers or secondary consequences of other pathological processes. It does not test whether correcting glial dysfunction would improve symptoms.
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
Renz-Polster, Herbert, Tremblay, Marie-Eve, Bienzle, Dorothee, & Fischer, Joachim E (2022). The Pathobiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Case for Neuroglial Failure.. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2022.888232
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-renz-polster-2022-pathobiology-myalgic,
author = {Renz-Polster, Herbert and Tremblay, Marie-Eve and Bienzle, Dorothee and Fischer, Joachim E},
title = {The Pathobiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Case for Neuroglial Failure.},
journal = {Frontiers in cellular neuroscience},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3389/fncel.2022.888232},
note = {PubMed: 35614970},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/renz-polster-2022-pathobiology-myalgic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/renz-polster-2022-pathobiology-myalgic
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