Thomas, Natalie, Ubhayasekera, S J Kumari A, Armstrong, Christopher W et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2025 · DOI
This study looked at stress hormones (steroids) in the blood of people with ME/CFS compared to healthy controls. While the amounts of individual hormones were similar between the two groups, the researchers found that the hormones were not communicating with each other properly in ME/CFS patients—like instruments in an orchestra playing out of sync. This suggests that the body's hormone regulation system may be disrupted in ME/CFS, even when individual hormone levels appear normal.
This study provides novel evidence that ME/CFS involves disrupted hormone network dynamics rather than simple deficiencies or elevations in individual hormone levels—a finding that could explain why standard hormone testing often appears 'normal' in ME/CFS patients. Understanding these network dysregulations may guide future therapeutic approaches targeting hormone coordination rather than isolated hormone replacement.
This study does not prove that steroid dysregulation causes ME/CFS or that correcting these hormone relationships will improve symptoms. The small sample size, modest predictive power of the steroid profile, and cross-sectional design prevent determination of causality or clinical utility. The findings describe an association and should not be interpreted as diagnostic or immediately applicable to treatment.
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
Thomas, Natalie, Ubhayasekera, S J Kumari A, Armstrong, Christopher W, Huang, Katherine, & Bergquist, Jonas (2025). Steroid dynamics in myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome: a case-control study using ultra performance supercritical fluid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-025-06841-4
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-thomas-2025-steroid-dynamics,
author = {Thomas, Natalie and Ubhayasekera, S J Kumari A and Armstrong, Christopher W and Huang, Katherine and Bergquist, Jonas},
title = {Steroid dynamics in myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome: a case-control study using ultra performance supercritical fluid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-025-06841-4},
note = {PubMed: 40713801},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/thomas-2025-steroid-dynamics},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/thomas-2025-steroid-dynamics
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.