Sasso, Etianne Martini, Er, Teagan S, Eaton-Fitch, Natalie et al. · Frontiers in medicine · 2025 · DOI
This study examined a specific ion channel called TRPM3 in immune cells from people with ME/CFS compared to healthy individuals. Researchers at two different laboratories found that TRPM3 channels work differently in ME/CFS patients—they're less active than in healthy people. Because both labs got the same results independently, this suggests TRPM3 dysfunction could be a reliable biological marker for ME/CFS.
This study provides reproducible, multi-site evidence that TRPM3 dysfunction is a consistent biological abnormality in ME/CFS, not a laboratory artifact. Such consistent biomarkers are crucial for developing diagnostic tests and identifying therapeutic targets for a disease that currently lacks objective diagnostic criteria and approved treatments.
This study does not prove that TRPM3 dysfunction causes ME/CFS or that correcting it will treat the disease. It also does not establish whether TRPM3 abnormalities are present in all ME/CFS patients, whether they correlate with symptom severity, or whether they could serve as a standalone diagnostic test without clinical validation.
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
Sasso, Etianne Martini, Er, Teagan S, Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Hool, Livia, Muraki, Katsuhiko, & Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya (2025). Large-scale investigation confirms TRPM3 ion channel dysfunction in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Frontiers in medicine. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2025.1703924
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sasso-2025-large-scale,
author = {Sasso, Etianne Martini and Er, Teagan S and Eaton-Fitch, Natalie and Hool, Livia and Muraki, Katsuhiko and Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya},
title = {Large-scale investigation confirms TRPM3 ion channel dysfunction in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2025.1703924},
note = {PubMed: 41585253},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sasso-2025-large-scale},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sasso-2025-large-scale
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