Vangeel, Elise Beau, Kempke, Stefan, Bakusic, Jelena et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 2018 · DOI
This study looked at chemical changes (called methylation) on genes that control how the body handles stress in people with ME/CFS compared to healthy controls. The researchers found small but consistent differences in a stress-response gene, particularly in patients who had experienced childhood trauma. While the differences were tiny (about 1-2%), they suggest that ME/CFS may involve changes in how the body's stress system works.
This research provides molecular evidence supporting the theory that ME/CFS involves dysregulation of the HPA axis—the body's central stress-response system. By linking genetic modifications to both ME/CFS diagnosis and childhood trauma history, the study suggests a biological mechanism that could eventually lead to new diagnostic tools or targeted treatments.
This study does not prove that childhood trauma causes ME/CFS, nor does it establish that methylation changes cause the disease; it only shows an association. The absolute methylation differences were very small, and findings regarding fatigue severity and emotional abuse were not statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons, limiting their reliability. The study also only included female participants, so findings may not generalize to males with ME/CFS.
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 →
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