Xu, Jiabao, Potter, Michelle, Tomas, Cara et al. · The Analyst · 2019 · DOI
Researchers used a new scanning technology called Raman spectroscopy to look at individual cells from ME/CFS patients and healthy people. They found that cells from ME/CFS patients had higher levels of a protein building block called phenylalanine, similar to cells with broken energy-producing structures (mitochondria). Using computer learning, they could identify ME/CFS patient cells with 98% accuracy based on this signature.
This research provides potential objective biomarker for ME/CFS diagnosis, addressing a critical clinical need since the disease currently lacks biological diagnostic tests. The connection between phenylalanine elevation and mitochondrial dysfunction offers new insight into disease mechanisms and could guide future therapeutic development.
This study does not prove that elevated phenylalanine causes ME/CFS or that it is the primary driver of the disease. The finding is correlational and requires validation in larger independent populations before SCRM can be considered a clinical diagnostic tool. The mechanism linking elevated phenylalanine to ME/CFS symptoms remains unknown.
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
Xu, Jiabao, Potter, Michelle, Tomas, Cara, Elson, Joanna L, Morten, Karl J, Poulton, Joanna, et al. (2019). A new approach to find biomarkers in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) by single-cell Raman micro-spectroscopy.. The Analyst. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8an01437j
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-xu-2019-new-approach,
author = {Xu, Jiabao and Potter, Michelle and Tomas, Cara and Elson, Joanna L and Morten, Karl J and Poulton, Joanna and Wang, Ning and Jin, Hanqing and Hou, Zhaoxu and Huang, Wei E},
title = {A new approach to find biomarkers in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) by single-cell Raman micro-spectroscopy.},
journal = {The Analyst},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1039/c8an01437j},
note = {PubMed: 30207334},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2019-new-approach},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2019-new-approach
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