Scheibenbogen, Carmen, Freitag, Helma, Blanco, Julià et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2017 · DOI
Researchers across Europe are working together to find biological markers (signs in blood or body tests) that could help diagnose ME/CFS and track how treatments work. This study reviewed all the biomarker research happening in Europe and created a database of what scientists are studying. The goal is to develop reliable tests that doctors could use in the future to diagnose ME/CFS and improve clinical trials.
ME/CFS currently lacks validated diagnostic biomarkers and approved treatments, making diagnosis difficult and clinical trials hard to evaluate. This coordinated European effort to map and standardize biomarker research accelerates progress toward reliable diagnostic tests and better tools for measuring treatment response, which could transform how ME/CFS patients are identified and cared for.
This study does not identify which specific biomarkers are definitively diagnostic or predictive—it maps the landscape of research rather than validating individual biomarkers. It does not prove that any particular biomarker is ready for clinical use; it lays groundwork for future validation studies.
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
Scheibenbogen, Carmen, Freitag, Helma, Blanco, Julià, Capelli, Enrica, Lacerda, Eliana, Authier, Jerome, et al. (2017). The European ME/CFS Biomarker Landscape project: an initiative of the European network EUROMENE.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-017-1263-z
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-scheibenbogen-2017-european-cfs,
author = {Scheibenbogen, Carmen and Freitag, Helma and Blanco, Julià and Capelli, Enrica and Lacerda, Eliana and Authier, Jerome and Meeus, Mira and Castro Marrero, Jesus and Nora-Krukle, Zaiga and Oltra, Elisa and Strand, Elin Bolle and Shikova, Evelina and Sekulic, Slobodan and Murovska, Modra},
title = {The European ME/CFS Biomarker Landscape project: an initiative of the European network EUROMENE.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-017-1263-z},
note = {PubMed: 28747192},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/scheibenbogen-2017-european-cfs},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/scheibenbogen-2017-european-cfs
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