Xinliang, Zhang, Dudnik, Elena N, Gavrikov, Leonid K et al. · Current medicinal chemistry · 2026 · DOI
This systematic review examined studies on placental extracts—cell-free preparations derived from human or animal placenta—as potential treatments for various chronic diseases including metabolic disorders and liver disease. The review reports that these extracts were associated with improvements in liver function, muscle preservation, and metabolic markers in the studies reviewed; one study also mentioned chronic fatigue syndrome among the conditions examined. However, the authors note that large-scale, rigorously designed trials are needed to confirm whether these treatments actually work, and the quality of evidence underlying these associations remains unclear.
By analogy, the proposed mechanisms of placental extracts—reduction of oxidative stress, regulation of cellular turnover, and immunomodulation—may be relevant to ME/CFS, since oxidative stress and immune dysregulation have been observed in some ME/CFS cohorts. The mention of chronic fatigue syndrome in this review warrants scrutiny, though relevance to ME/CFS is unclear and would depend on whether the cited chronic fatigue studies applied a validated ME/CFS case definition. This review highlights an understudied therapeutic area that could inform future mechanistic investigations in post-infectious and metabolic dimensions of ME/CFS.
This systematic review does not establish that placental extracts cause improvements in any condition; it documents associations and reported outcomes from heterogeneous studies of varying quality. It does not confirm any underlying molecular mechanism, nor does it demonstrate efficacy in a randomised controlled trial. The inclusion of chronic fatigue syndrome does not establish applicability to ME/CFS, which has distinct diagnostic criteria; the quality and case definition of cited fatigue studies are not reported here. Large-scale RCTs with pre-specified outcomes are required before any clinical recommendation can be made.
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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Primary citation
Xinliang, Zhang, Dudnik, Elena N, Gavrikov, Leonid K, Liye, An, Hui, Zhao, Potapova, Olga V, et al. (2026). Recent Perspectives on the Physiological and Therapeutic Benefits of Placental Extracts in Chronic Noninfectious Diseases and Aging.. Current medicinal chemistry. https://doi.org/10.2174/0109298673398178251117112014
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-xinliang-2026-recent-perspectives,
author = {Xinliang, Zhang and Dudnik, Elena N and Gavrikov, Leonid K and Liye, An and Hui, Zhao and Potapova, Olga V and Kryzhanovskaya, Svetlana Y and Glazachev, Oleg S},
title = {Recent Perspectives on the Physiological and Therapeutic Benefits of Placental Extracts in Chronic Noninfectious Diseases and Aging.},
journal = {Current medicinal chemistry},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.2174/0109298673398178251117112014},
note = {PubMed: 42136313},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xinliang-2026-recent-perspectives},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xinliang-2026-recent-perspectives
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