Song, Wenjing, Hou, Xinlei, Wu, Minmin et al. · Scientific reports · 2025 · DOI
This study used genetic data from large databases to investigate whether depression causes ME/CFS, or vice versa. Researchers compared genetic information from thousands of people with depression and thousands with ME/CFS. They found no evidence that one condition genetically causes the other, even though depression and ME/CFS often happen together in the same person.
Many ME/CFS patients experience depression, but it has been unclear whether one condition causes the other or whether they share common biological mechanisms. This study provides important genetic evidence that depression does not directly cause ME/CFS genetically, which could help clinicians and patients understand these conditions as distinct entities and inform treatment approaches.
This study does not prove that depression and ME/CFS are completely unrelated—they may still share environmental triggers, immune factors, or other biological mechanisms not captured by genetic analysis. Mendelian randomization examines genetic causality specifically; it does not address whether psychological stress or depression symptoms could influence ME/CFS severity in individual patients. The absence of genetic causality does not explain why these conditions so frequently co-occur.
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
Song, Wenjing, Hou, Xinlei, Wu, Minmin, & Zhu, Luwen (2025). Relationship between major depressive disorder and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a two-sample mendelian randomization study analysis.. Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85217-6
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-song-2025-relationship-between,
author = {Song, Wenjing and Hou, Xinlei and Wu, Minmin and Zhu, Luwen},
title = {Relationship between major depressive disorder and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a two-sample mendelian randomization study analysis.},
journal = {Scientific reports},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-025-85217-6},
note = {PubMed: 39774380},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/song-2025-relationship-between},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/song-2025-relationship-between
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