Salonen, Tapani, Jokinen, Elina, Satokari, Reetta et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2023 · DOI
Researchers tested whether transplanting gut bacteria from healthy donors into ME/CFS patients could reduce fatigue and improve quality of life. Eleven patients received either bacteria from a healthy donor or their own bacteria (a placebo control) via colonoscopy, and their symptoms were tracked for six months. The treatment was safe, but it did not improve fatigue, pain, or overall quality of life compared to placebo.
Given evidence linking gut dysbiosis to neurological symptoms in other conditions, testing FMT in ME/CFS was a reasonable hypothesis. This negative, well-controlled result helps redirect research focus and prevents investment in ineffective interventions, while establishing the safety of FMT delivery in this population.
This small pilot study does not rule out microbiota dysfunction in ME/CFS pathogenesis—only that FMT as delivered here did not improve symptoms. It does not establish whether donor selection, timing, dose, or delivery method were optimal, nor does it exclude dysbiosis-related mechanisms in a subset of patients. Negative results in a 11-person study cannot definitively exclude benefit in larger or more genetically or clinically stratified populations.
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
Salonen, Tapani, Jokinen, Elina, Satokari, Reetta, & Lahtinen, Perttu (2023). Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study: efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation on chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-023-04227-y
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-salonen-2023-randomized-double,
author = {Salonen, Tapani and Jokinen, Elina and Satokari, Reetta and Lahtinen, Perttu},
title = {Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study: efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation on chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-023-04227-y},
note = {PubMed: 37516837},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/salonen-2023-randomized-double},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/salonen-2023-randomized-double
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