Sha, S, Liang, J, Chen, M et al. · Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics · 2014 · DOI
This review examined whether transferring stool bacteria from healthy donors to patients (called faecal microbiota transplantation or FMT) could help treat various diseases, including chronic fatigue syndrome. Researchers looked at 67 published studies involving 844 patients and found that FMT was very effective for certain gut infections and inflammatory bowel disease, with very few serious side effects reported.
For ME/CFS patients, this review is significant because it specifically mentions chronic fatigue syndrome as a potential nongastrointestinal condition that may respond to FMT, suggesting a mechanistic link between gut microbiota composition and systemic symptoms. Since many ME/CFS patients experience gastrointestinal dysfunction alongside their core symptoms, understanding whether microbiota-targeted interventions could provide therapeutic benefit is clinically important.
This review does not establish that FMT is effective for ME/CFS specifically—chronic fatigue syndrome is mentioned only as a potential application without detailed case presentation or outcome data. The overwhelming majority of evidence concerns CDI and IBD; the mention of FMT for nongastrointestinal disorders including CFS is based on very limited data and should not be interpreted as evidence of clinical benefit in ME/CFS.
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
Sha, S, Liang, J, Chen, M, Xu, B, Liang, C, Wei, N, et al. (2014). Systematic review: faecal microbiota transplantation therapy for digestive and nondigestive disorders in adults and children.. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.12699
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sha-2014-systematic-review,
author = {Sha, S and Liang, J and Chen, M and Xu, B and Liang, C and Wei, N and Wu, K},
title = {Systematic review: faecal microbiota transplantation therapy for digestive and nondigestive disorders in adults and children.},
journal = {Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1111/apt.12699},
note = {PubMed: 24641570},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sha-2014-systematic-review},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sha-2014-systematic-review
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