Shishioh-Ikejima, Nobue, Ogawa, Tokiko, Yamaguti, Kouzi et al. · BMC neurology · 2010 · DOI
Researchers measured a hormone called alpha-MSH in the blood of 55 ME/CFS patients and compared it to 30 healthy people. They found that patients diagnosed within the last 5 years had significantly higher alpha-MSH levels than healthy controls, but this difference disappeared in patients who had been ill longer. This suggests alpha-MSH might be a useful blood test for identifying ME/CFS in newly diagnosed patients.
ME/CFS lacks validated biological markers, making diagnosis challenging and reliant on clinical criteria alone. If alpha-MSH proves reliable as an early biomarker, it could improve diagnostic accuracy and enable research into the role of pituitary activation in ME/CFS pathophysiology, potentially opening new treatment targets.
This study does not prove alpha-MSH causes ME/CFS or explain why levels decrease with disease duration. The wide range of values within the CFS group and lack of correlation with other hormones (ACTH, cortisol, DHEA-S) suggest alpha-MSH alone may be insufficient as a standalone diagnostic marker. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether elevated alpha-MSH precedes illness onset or results from the disease process.
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
Shishioh-Ikejima, Nobue, Ogawa, Tokiko, Yamaguti, Kouzi, Watanabe, Yasuyoshi, Kuratsune, Hirohiko, & Kiyama, Hiroshi (2010). The increase of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the plasma of chronic fatigue syndrome patients.. BMC neurology. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-10-73
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-shishioh-ikejima-2010-increase-alpha,
author = {Shishioh-Ikejima, Nobue and Ogawa, Tokiko and Yamaguti, Kouzi and Watanabe, Yasuyoshi and Kuratsune, Hirohiko and Kiyama, Hiroshi},
title = {The increase of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in the plasma of chronic fatigue syndrome patients.},
journal = {BMC neurology},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1186/1471-2377-10-73},
note = {PubMed: 20731841},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/shishioh-ikejima-2010-increase-alpha},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/shishioh-ikejima-2010-increase-alpha
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