Russell, Lindsey, Broderick, Gordon, Taylor, Renee et al. · BMC immunology · 2016 · DOI
This study looked at three inflammatory proteins (IL-1α, IL-6, and IL-8) in the blood of people with ME/CFS at different stages of illness—newly diagnosed teenagers, people in the middle of their illness, and those who had been sick for over a decade. The researchers found that the pattern of these proteins changes as the illness progresses, suggesting that the body's immune response shifts over time. By adjusting for how long someone has been ill, doctors might be able to use these three proteins together to identify ME/CFS with 75-88% accuracy.
ME/CFS lacks validated diagnostic biomarkers, making clinical recognition difficult and contributing to diagnostic delays. This research suggests that immune dysfunction in ME/CFS is not static but evolves predictably over time, which could improve diagnostic accuracy if validated. Understanding how biomarkers change across illness stages may help clinicians better recognize ME/CFS regardless of when a patient seeks care.
This study does not prove these cytokines cause ME/CFS—only that they correlate with the illness at specific time points. The findings apply only to female patients and cannot yet be used clinically for diagnosis without further validation. The study also does not explain why these immune markers shift or what biological mechanisms drive these changes over time.
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
Russell, Lindsey, Broderick, Gordon, Taylor, Renee, Fernandes, Henrique, Harvey, Jeanna, Barnes, Zachary, et al. (2016). Illness progression in chronic fatigue syndrome: a shifting immune baseline.. BMC immunology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12865-016-0142-3
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-russell-2016-illness-progression,
author = {Russell, Lindsey and Broderick, Gordon and Taylor, Renee and Fernandes, Henrique and Harvey, Jeanna and Barnes, Zachary and Smylie, AnneLiese and Collado, Fanny and Balbin, Elizabeth G and Katz, Ben Z and Klimas, Nancy G and Fletcher, Mary Ann},
title = {Illness progression in chronic fatigue syndrome: a shifting immune baseline.},
journal = {BMC immunology},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1186/s12865-016-0142-3},
note = {PubMed: 26965484},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/russell-2016-illness-progression},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/russell-2016-illness-progression
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