Tobi, Martin, Chaudhari, Diptaraj, Ryan, Elizabeth P et al. · Biomolecules · 2025 · DOI
Researchers compared gut bacteria and immune molecules in the blood of people with long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome. They found that people with these conditions have unusual patterns of gut bacteria and different levels of immune signaling molecules compared to healthy controls. These differences suggest the immune system and gut health may play a role in why some people develop long-lasting fatigue after infection.
This study provides potential biomarkers—gut microbiome composition and specific immune molecules—that could help identify and understand ME/CFS and long COVID. Finding common immune and microbiome signatures across post-viral fatigue conditions strengthens the case that these are genuine biological illnesses with measurable physiological changes, not purely psychological disorders.
This study does not prove that microbiome or cytokine changes *cause* ME/CFS or long COVID; it only shows associations. The cross-sectional design means the altered immune profile could be a consequence rather than a cause of illness. The study also does not establish whether these biomarkers can predict who will recover or guide treatment decisions.
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
Tobi, Martin, Chaudhari, Diptaraj, Ryan, Elizabeth P, Rossi, Noreen F, Koka, Orena, Baxter, Bridget, et al. (2025). Immune Signatures in Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) and Myalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): Insights from the Fecal Microbiome and Serum Cytokine Profiles.. Biomolecules. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15070928
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-tobi-2025-immune-signatures,
author = {Tobi, Martin and Chaudhari, Diptaraj and Ryan, Elizabeth P and Rossi, Noreen F and Koka, Orena and Baxter, Bridget and Tipton, Madison and Dutt, Taru S and Tobi, Yosef and McVicker, Benita and Angoa-Perez, Mariana},
title = {Immune Signatures in Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) and Myalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): Insights from the Fecal Microbiome and Serum Cytokine Profiles.},
journal = {Biomolecules},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3390/biom15070928},
note = {PubMed: 40723800},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/tobi-2025-immune-signatures},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/tobi-2025-immune-signatures
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