Tomas, Cara, Brown, Audrey E, Newton, Julia L et al. · PeerJ · 2019 · DOI
This study looked at whether the powerhouses of cells (mitochondria) work differently in ME/CFS patients compared to healthy people. Researchers tested muscle cells and immune cells from the blood using a special technique to measure how well different parts of the mitochondrial energy-production system functioned. Surprisingly, they found no significant differences between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls, suggesting that if mitochondria aren't working properly in ME/CFS, the problem may occur before it reaches the mitochondria itself.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a leading hypothesis in ME/CFS pathophysiology. This study provides important negative evidence that challenges whether the core mitochondrial machinery itself is fundamentally broken, redirecting attention toward upstream regulatory or metabolic processes that might explain observed energy dysfunction in patients.
This study does not prove mitochondria function normally in ME/CFS—it specifically tested only the respiratory chain complexes and does not exclude mitochondrial dysfunction in other processes (calcium handling, protein synthesis, autophagy, or metabolic regulation). The study was also relatively small and did not examine mitochondrial biogenesis, quality control mechanisms, or the effects of exercise stress. Negative findings in two cell types do not exclude tissue-specific mitochondrial problems in other 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
Tomas, Cara, Brown, Audrey E, Newton, Julia L, & Elson, Joanna L (2019). Mitochondrial complex activity in permeabilised cells of chronic fatigue syndrome patients using two cell types.. PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6500
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-tomas-2019-mitochondrial-complex,
author = {Tomas, Cara and Brown, Audrey E and Newton, Julia L and Elson, Joanna L},
title = {Mitochondrial complex activity in permeabilised cells of chronic fatigue syndrome patients using two cell types.},
journal = {PeerJ},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.7717/peerj.6500},
note = {PubMed: 30847260},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/tomas-2019-mitochondrial-complex},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/tomas-2019-mitochondrial-complex
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.