Zhang, Hai-Ying, Liu, Zhan-Dong, Hu, Chao-Jun et al. · Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan yi zhi · 2011 · DOI
Researchers measured levels of a immune signaling molecule called TGF-β1 in blood cells from ME/CFS patients and compared them to healthy people and patients with other illnesses. They found that ME/CFS patients had significantly higher levels of TGF-β1 than both groups, suggesting this molecule may play a role in ME/CFS disease development.
This study provides molecular evidence for immune dysregulation in ME/CFS, specifically implicating TGF-β1 as a potentially measurable biomarker. Understanding aberrant immune signaling in ME/CFS could eventually lead to diagnostic tests and targeted therapeutic interventions.
This study does not prove that TGF-β1 elevation causes ME/CFS—it only shows an association. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of whether TGF-β1 elevation precedes disease onset, is a consequence of illness, or both. The study also does not establish what clinical significance this elevation has or whether it correlates with symptom severity.
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
Zhang, Hai-Ying, Liu, Zhan-Dong, Hu, Chao-Jun, Wang, De-Xin, Zhang, Yong-Bo, & Li, Yong-Zhe (2011). Up-regulation of TGF-β1 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan yi zhi. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfma.2011.09.006
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-zhang-2011-regulation-tgf,
author = {Zhang, Hai-Ying and Liu, Zhan-Dong and Hu, Chao-Jun and Wang, De-Xin and Zhang, Yong-Bo and Li, Yong-Zhe},
title = {Up-regulation of TGF-β1 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan yi zhi},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1016/j.jfma.2011.09.006},
note = {PubMed: 22118314},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zhang-2011-regulation-tgf},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zhang-2011-regulation-tgf
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.