Xu, Tingting, Gao, Shuo, Cheng, Xinxin et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2025 · DOI
Researchers studied blood cells from 20 ME/CFS patients (divided into two Traditional Chinese Medicine symptom patterns) and 10 healthy controls. They found differences in how proteins were modified in the blood cells of ME/CFS patients compared to healthy people. These differences involved processes that affect how cells communicate with each other and organize their internal structures.
This study provides potential molecular signatures that could distinguish between ME/CFS patient subgroups, which may help explain why patients experience different symptom patterns. Understanding these cellular differences could eventually lead to better diagnostic tools and more targeted treatments for different ME/CFS presentations.
This study does not prove that histone phosphorylation changes cause ME/CFS symptoms—it only shows that differences exist. The small sample size and single-center recruitment limit whether these findings apply to the broader ME/CFS population. The study also does not establish whether these protein changes are primary disease mechanisms or secondary consequences of the illness.
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, Tingting, Gao, Shuo, Cheng, Xinxin, Man, Wenxuan, Wang, Yanjie, & Yin, Yonghui (2025). Histone phosphorylation analysis of two main TCM syndromes of chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-025-07579-9
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-xu-2025-histone-phosphorylation,
author = {Xu, Tingting and Gao, Shuo and Cheng, Xinxin and Man, Wenxuan and Wang, Yanjie and Yin, Yonghui},
title = {Histone phosphorylation analysis of two main TCM syndromes of chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-025-07579-9},
note = {PubMed: 41449404},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2025-histone-phosphorylation},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2025-histone-phosphorylation
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