Sun, Yujing, Zhang, Zhenhua, Qiao, Qincheng et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2024 · DOI
Researchers used advanced cell analysis to examine immune cells from the blood of 4 ME/CFS patients and 4 healthy people. They found that ME/CFS patients have an unusual mix of immune cells, with too many T cells but too few natural killer cells and other immune cells that normally fight infections. Some of their immune cells also show signs of overactivity while others seem weakened, and the researchers identified a potential blood test marker that could help diagnose ME/CFS.
This study provides detailed molecular evidence for immune dysfunction in ME/CFS and identifies a potential blood-based biomarker that could aid diagnosis. Understanding these immunological changes may reveal therapeutic targets and help explain why ME/CFS patients experience both immune deficiency symptoms (recurring infections) and autoimmune-like features (inflammatory responses).
This study does not establish that the identified biomarker can diagnose ME/CFS in clinical practice—that would require validation in larger, independent patient populations. It also does not prove these immune changes cause ME/CFS symptoms or address whether they are primary drivers of disease or secondary consequences. The findings are correlational and limited to peripheral blood, so they may not reflect immune dysfunction in affected tissues.
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
Sun, Yujing, Zhang, Zhenhua, Qiao, Qincheng, Zou, Ying, Wang, Lina, Wang, Tixiao, et al. (2024). Immunometabolic changes and potential biomarkers in CFS peripheral immune cells revealed by single-cell RNA sequencing.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-024-05710-w
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-sun-2024-immunometabolic-changes,
author = {Sun, Yujing and Zhang, Zhenhua and Qiao, Qincheng and Zou, Ying and Wang, Lina and Wang, Tixiao and Lou, Bo and Li, Guosheng and Xu, Miao and Wang, Yanxiang and Zhang, Zhenhong and Hou, Xinguo and Chen, Li and Zhao, Ruxing},
title = {Immunometabolic changes and potential biomarkers in CFS peripheral immune cells revealed by single-cell RNA sequencing.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-024-05710-w},
note = {PubMed: 39394558},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sun-2024-immunometabolic-changes},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/sun-2024-immunometabolic-changes
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