Retornaz, Frédérique, Stavris, Chloé, Jammes, Yves · Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon) · 2023 · DOI
This study looked at whether problems with how muscle cells communicate during and after exercise might explain why people with ME/CFS have weak muscles. Researchers compared two groups of ME/CFS patients—those whose muscles showed electrical signal problems after exercise and those who didn't. They found that patients with these electrical problems had weaker grip strength both before and after exercise, and their symptoms got worse after physical activity.
This study provides objective physiological evidence linking a specific measurable muscle dysfunction (sarcolemma fatigue) to both reduced muscle strength and post-exertion symptom worsening in ME/CFS. Understanding these mechanisms could eventually lead to targeted interventions and help validate the biological basis of exercise intolerance in this disease.
This study does not prove that sarcolemma fatigue is the sole cause of muscle weakness in ME/CFS, as it is correlational rather than causal. It also cannot be generalized to all muscles or all ME/CFS patients, since only handgrip was measured in a subset of symptomatic patients. The findings require prospective validation and mechanistic studies to confirm causality.
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
Retornaz, Frédérique, Stavris, Chloé, & Jammes, Yves (2023). Consequences of sarcolemma fatigue on maximal muscle strength production in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2023.106055
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-retornaz-2023-consequences-sarcolemma,
author = {Retornaz, Frédérique and Stavris, Chloé and Jammes, Yves},
title = {Consequences of sarcolemma fatigue on maximal muscle strength production in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon)},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2023.106055},
note = {PubMed: 37562331},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/retornaz-2023-consequences-sarcolemma},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/retornaz-2023-consequences-sarcolemma
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