Zhang, Feilong, Wu, Chuanhong, Jia, Caixia et al. · Journal of affective disorders · 2019 · DOI
This study looked at whether depression and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) share common biological markers in the blood and urine. Researchers used advanced chemical testing and artificial intelligence to analyze samples from 295 people and found that depression and CFS have some overlapping chemical signatures, though they also have distinct differences. The findings suggest these two conditions may be more closely related than previously thought.
This work provides biological evidence that depression and ME/CFS share underlying metabolic abnormalities, which could explain why these conditions frequently co-occur and may inform more targeted treatment approaches. For patients, identifying specific biomarkers may eventually lead to better diagnostic tools and personalized interventions that address the shared biological basis of both conditions.
This study does not establish causation—it cannot determine whether depression causes fatigue, fatigue causes depression, or whether both stem from a common underlying mechanism. The cross-sectional design prevents any determination of temporal relationships, and the findings are correlational, requiring validation in independent cohorts before clinical application. Additionally, no longitudinal or interventional data are provided to demonstrate whether targeting these biomarkers would improve outcomes.
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, Feilong, Wu, Chuanhong, Jia, Caixia, Gao, Kuo, Wang, Jinping, Zhao, Huihui, et al. (2019). Artificial intelligence based discovery of the association between depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of affective disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.011
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-zhang-2019-artificial-intelligence,
author = {Zhang, Feilong and Wu, Chuanhong and Jia, Caixia and Gao, Kuo and Wang, Jinping and Zhao, Huihui and Wang, Wei and Chen, Jianxin},
title = {Artificial intelligence based discovery of the association between depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of affective disorders},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.011},
note = {PubMed: 30877861},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zhang-2019-artificial-intelligence},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zhang-2019-artificial-intelligence
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