Yamamoto, Shigeyuki, Ouchi, Yasuomi, Nakatsuka, Daisaku et al. · PloS one · 2012 · DOI
Some people with ME/CFS have antibodies in their blood that target a chemical receptor in the brain called the muscarinic cholinergic receptor. This study used brain imaging (PET scans) to compare the brains of ME/CFS patients with and without these antibodies. Patients with these antibodies showed lower levels of these receptors in their brains, but this difference did not affect their thinking or memory performance.
This study provides mechanistic evidence that autoimmune processes may directly affect the brain's chemical receptor systems in a subset of ME/CFS patients. Identifying this biological pathway could eventually lead to targeted therapies and help explain why some patients have autoimmune features.
This study does not prove that autoantibodies cause ME/CFS, only that they associate with altered brain receptor binding in some patients. The lack of cognitive differences suggests this receptor change may not fully explain cognitive symptoms, and the small sample size limits generalizability to the broader ME/CFS population. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of whether autoantibodies develop before, during, or after symptom onset.
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
Yamamoto, Shigeyuki, Ouchi, Yasuomi, Nakatsuka, Daisaku, Tahara, Tsuyoshi, Mizuno, Kei, Tajima, Seiki, et al. (2012). Reduction of [11C](+)3-MPB binding in brain of chronic fatigue syndrome with serum autoantibody against muscarinic cholinergic receptor.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051515
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-yamamoto-2012-reduction-11c,
author = {Yamamoto, Shigeyuki and Ouchi, Yasuomi and Nakatsuka, Daisaku and Tahara, Tsuyoshi and Mizuno, Kei and Tajima, Seiki and Onoe, Hirotaka and Yoshikawa, Etsuji and Tsukada, Hideo and Iwase, Masao and Yamaguti, Kouzi and Kuratsune, Hirohiko and Watanabe, Yasuyoshi},
title = {Reduction of [11C](+)3-MPB binding in brain of chronic fatigue syndrome with serum autoantibody against muscarinic cholinergic receptor.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0051515},
note = {PubMed: 23240035},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yamamoto-2012-reduction-11c},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yamamoto-2012-reduction-11c
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