Scherbakov, Nadja, Szklarski, Marvin, Hartwig, Jelka et al. · ESC heart failure · 2020 · DOI
This study looked at blood vessel function in people with ME/CFS by measuring how well small arteries in the arm respond to increased blood flow. Researchers found that about half of ME/CFS patients had abnormal blood vessel responses, compared to only 20% of healthy people. People with this blood vessel problem reported more severe fatigue, more frequent need for rest breaks, and worse immune-related symptoms like sore throat and swollen lymph nodes.
Endothelial dysfunction is an established cardiovascular risk factor; identifying it in over half of ME/CFS patients suggests a potential mechanism linking ME/CFS to vascular complications and may explain symptoms like orthostatic intolerance. This finding opens investigation into whether treating vascular dysfunction could improve ME/CFS outcomes and reduce long-term cardiovascular risk in this population.
This study cannot prove that endothelial dysfunction causes ME/CFS severity or that it directly causes cardiovascular disease in ME/CFS patients—only that the two are associated. The small immunoadsorption subgroup (n=6) limits conclusions about whether treating immune dysfunction improves endothelial function. Cross-sectional design prevents determination of whether ED develops before, during, or after ME/CFS onset.
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
Scherbakov, Nadja, Szklarski, Marvin, Hartwig, Jelka, Sotzny, Franziska, Lorenz, Sebastian, Meyer, Antje, et al. (2020). Peripheral endothelial dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. ESC heart failure. https://doi.org/10.1002/ehf2.12633
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-scherbakov-2020-peripheral-endothelial,
author = {Scherbakov, Nadja and Szklarski, Marvin and Hartwig, Jelka and Sotzny, Franziska and Lorenz, Sebastian and Meyer, Antje and Grabowski, Patricia and Doehner, Wolfram and Scheibenbogen, Carmen},
title = {Peripheral endothelial dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {ESC heart failure},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1002/ehf2.12633},
note = {PubMed: 32154656},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/scherbakov-2020-peripheral-endothelial},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/scherbakov-2020-peripheral-endothelial
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