ME/CFS Evidence Browser — Classified Studies on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

2422 studies

121–140 of 2,422 studies

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM not requiredMethods-Paper

Profiling Antibody Reactivity to Gut Microbes in ME/CFS Patients.

Seton, Katharine A, Carding, Simon R·Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)·2025

This study looks at how the immune system of ME/CFS patients reacts to bacteria in the gut. Many ME/CFS patients have changes in their gut bacteria and a leaky gut lining that allows bacteria and their toxic products to enter the bloodstream, potentially triggering widespread inflammation. The researchers developed methods to measure specific immune proteins (antibodies) that ME/CFS patients produce in response to these gut bacteria, compared to healthy household members.

Gut MicrobiomeImmune System

E3 PreliminaryPEM unclear

Perspectives of Rehabilitation Professionals on Long COVID Interventions to Facilitate Return-to-Work.

MacKinnon, Cassandra, Castro-Barquero, Cassandra, Kontis, Alexandra et al.·Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapie·2025

This study asked rehabilitation professionals in Quebec about their experiences helping people with long COVID return to work. The professionals emphasized that education, gradually increasing activity, and self-management are the most helpful approaches, but they noted that returning to work is very difficult without workplace accommodations and proper support for managing post-exertional malaise (when symptoms worsen after activity).

Post-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM unclearMechanistic

A network medicine approach to investigating ME/CFS pathogenesis in severely ill patients: a pilot study.

Hung, Li-Yuan, Wu, Chan-Shuo, Chang, Chia-Jung et al.·Frontiers in human neuroscience·2025

Researchers used advanced computer analysis to examine genetic information from people with severe ME/CFS, looking for patterns in how genes work together. They found that ME/CFS involves multiple body systems working incorrectly, particularly the immune and nervous systems, and discovered connections to viral infections like EBV and COVID-19. The study also found clues about why more women than men develop ME/CFS, relating to how estrogen affects the body.

Immune System

E3 PreliminaryCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

Patient experiences of remote consulting with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia: a qualitative study.

Leach, Helen, Eccles, Abi, Chew-Graham, Carolyn A et al.·BJGP open·2025

This study asked 13 people with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia about their experiences using phone and video appointments with their doctors during and after 2020. Patients said the most important thing was feeling believed and listened to by their doctor. While remote appointments had some benefits (like being easier when symptoms were bad), many people found it harder to communicate without face-to-face visits, though having a trusted, familiar doctor made a big difference.

E3 PreliminaryCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

"I would love to say it's the fatigue but honestly it's not": Into Adulthood with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Tenhave, A, Bognar, R, Sidis, A·Psychology, health & medicine·2025

This study interviewed 13 young people (ages 16-25) with ME/CFS about what it's like growing up with this illness. The researchers found that participants struggled with three main challenges: gaining independence in ways different from their healthy peers, figuring out who they are when illness changes their plans, and feeling isolated even when around other people. The study suggests that mental health support could help young people with ME/CFS build confidence, explore their identity, and stay psychologically healthy during these critical years.

E3 PreliminaryPEM unclear

Wearable Devices Enable Long COVID Patients to Decrease Symptom Severity: A Case Series From Pilot User Testing.

Goosen, Andrea, Foster-Bonds, Romina, Vogel, Julia Moore·Cardiopulmonary physical therapy journal·2025

This small study looked at whether fitness trackers (Garmin watches) could help Long COVID patients manage their symptoms through pacing—carefully controlling activity levels to avoid overexertion. Eleven patients received a tracker, educational materials about pacing, and were asked about their experience. Most participants found the information helpful for managing their symptoms, and none had difficulty using the device, even those who had never used a wearable before.

E3 PreliminaryReviewPEM requiredReview-Narrative

Advocating the role of trained immunity in the pathogenesis of ME/CFS: a mini review.

Humer, Bart, Dik, Willem A, Versnel, Marjan A·Frontiers in immunology·2025

This review explores how a single severe infection might trigger long-term changes in the immune system that could lead to ME/CFS. After infection, immune cells can become 'trained' to overreact to future triggers, potentially causing the chronic symptoms patients experience. The researchers suggest this overactive immune response might explain why about 60% of ME/CFS patients remember getting sick before their symptoms started.

Immune SystemPost-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM unclearCross-Sectional

Autonomic phenotyping, brain blood flow control, and cognitive-motor-integration in Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A pilot study.

Badhwar, Smriti, Pereira, Tania J, Kerr, Kathleen et al.·Autonomic neuroscience : basic & clinical·2025

This study compared how the nervous systems of ME/CFS patients, Long COVID patients, and healthy people respond to physical stress tests like breathing different air mixtures and tilting upright. The researchers found that ME/CFS and Long COVID patients had different patterns of problems: ME/CFS patients showed difficulty controlling blood flow to the brain during one test, which was linked to coordination problems, while Long COVID patients had lower oxygen levels when upright and their nervous systems didn't adapt as well.

Autonomic Nervous SystemCognitive Impairment

E3 PreliminaryCommentaryPEM unclearEditorial

Reframing Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): Biological Basis of Disease and Recommendations for Supporting Patients.

Agarwal, Priya, Friedman, Kenneth J·Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)·2025

This article is a special essay about ME/CFS that was written by a medical student and selected as the best submission in a scholarship competition. It explains what we currently know about how ME/CFS affects the body and offers practical advice for doctors on how to better care for ME/CFS patients. The essay highlights that ME/CFS is a serious, worldwide health problem affecting millions of people, many of whom haven't been properly diagnosed.

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM unclearMethods-Paper

Quantitative Proteomics on Immune Cells of ME/CFS Patients Using SWATH-MS.

Kumar, Abhishek, Peppercorn, Katie, Kleffmann, Torsten·Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)·2025

This study describes a detailed scientific method for examining proteins in immune cells taken from the blood of ME/CFS patients. Researchers used advanced technology called SWATH-MS (a type of mass spectrometry) to identify and measure thousands of proteins at once. The paper explains the step-by-step process they used so that other researchers can use the same method to find protein abnormalities in ME/CFS.

Immune System

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM requiredMechanistic

Heightened innate immunity may trigger chronic inflammation, fatigue and post-exertional malaise in ME/CFS.

Che, Xiaoyu, Ranjan, Amit, Guo, Cheng et al.·npj metabolic health and disease·2025

This study examined blood samples and immune responses in ME/CFS patients to understand why they experience extreme fatigue and feeling worse after activity. Researchers found that patients' immune systems overreact to germs, their bodies have trouble producing energy efficiently, and they have several chemical imbalances in their blood. These problems got worse after exercise and matched how sick patients felt.

Energy MetabolismImmune SystemPost-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM unclearMechanistic

Heat vs. Fatigue: Hyperthermia as a Possible Treatment Option for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

Hochecker, Barbara, Matt, Katja, Scherer, Melanie et al.·International journal of molecular sciences·2025

This small pilot study looked at how heat treatment (whole-body hyperthermia) affected immune cells from 9 people with ME/CFS. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients' cells showed signs of being overactive in certain ways compared to healthy people, and that heat treatment seemed to help normalize some of these cellular patterns. While these early results are promising, much larger studies are needed to confirm whether heat therapy could be a useful treatment.

Immune System

E3 PreliminaryCommentaryPEM unclearEditorial

Chronic Fatigue in Cancer Survivorship: Psychiatry Versus Oncology or Psychiatry with Oncology?

Kafetzopoulos, Vasilios, Pittaka, Maria, Ioannidis, Georgios et al.·Current oncology reports·2025

This review examines fatigue in breast cancer survivors and how it's treated. The authors found that non-drug treatments like exercise, talk therapy, and mindfulness work best for cancer-related fatigue. They point out that cancer doctors and psychiatrists approach fatigue differently, and suggest that a combined team approach—mixing cancer care with mental health support—would help patients most.

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM unclearMethods-Paper

Using the Ratio of Phosphorylated to Non-phosphorylated Forms of Stress Kinase PKR as a Potential Diagnostic Test for ME/CFS.

Sweetman, Eiren, Tate, Warren P·Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)·2025

Researchers developed a new blood test that measures a specific immune protein called PKR in white blood cells to help diagnose ME/CFS. The test looks at whether PKR is in an active or inactive form—people with ME/CFS appear to have different patterns of active PKR compared to healthy people. If this method works well in larger studies, it could provide doctors with a simple, quick way to diagnose ME/CFS instead of waiting months while ruling out other illnesses.

Immune System

E3 PreliminaryCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

Diagnostic overshadowing in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): A qualitative study.

Harwood, Rupert, Wincup, Chris, D'Cruz, David et al.·Lupus·2025

This study looked at why people with lupus (SLE) often wait a long time to get diagnosed. Researchers found that doctors sometimes overlook or misinterpret lupus symptoms, attributing them instead to other causes like mental health problems, ME/CFS, or fibromyalgia. This "diagnostic overshadowing" can add years to someone's diagnostic journey and delay the treatment they need.

Diagnostics

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM not requiredMethods-Paper

Rasch analysis of the hospital anxiety and depression scale in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Bartholomew, Emerson J, Medvedev, Oleg N, Petrie, Keith J et al.·Journal of psychosomatic research·2025

This study tested whether a common questionnaire called the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) accurately measures anxiety and depression in people with ME/CFS. Researchers analyzed responses from 286 ME/CFS patients and found that the questionnaire works reasonably well, but they discovered that converting the scores into a different format makes the results more precise and reliable for clinical use.

E3 PreliminaryReviewPEM not requiredReview-Narrative

A Direct Relationship Between 'Blood Stasis' and Fibrinaloid Microclots in Chronic, Inflammatory, and Vascular Diseases, and Some Traditional Natural Products Approaches to Treatment.

Kell, Douglas B, Pretorius, Etheresia, Zhao, Huihui·Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)·2025

This study proposes that tiny blood clots called fibrinaloid microclots may be the physical basis behind a traditional Chinese medicine concept called 'blood stasis,' which describes sluggish blood flow. The authors suggest that these microclots block small blood vessels and reduce oxygen delivery to tissues, and that certain Chinese herbal remedies—particularly a formula called Xue Fu Zhu Yu—may help by reducing microclot formation. If correct, this could open new treatment avenues for ME/CFS, long COVID, and other chronic inflammatory conditions.

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM not requiredMechanistic

Oxidative stress is a shared characteristic of ME/CFS and Long COVID.

Shankar, Vishnu, Wilhelmy, Julie, Curtis, Ellis J et al.·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Researchers found that both ME/CFS and Long COVID patients have higher levels of oxidative stress—a harmful buildup of unstable molecules—in their immune cells, particularly in a type of white blood cell called memory T cells. The study identified specific problems with how the body clears this oxidative stress and showed that the existing medication metformin might help reduce overgrowth of these immune cells. Importantly, they discovered these problems show different patterns in men and women, suggesting that sex-specific treatment approaches may be needed.

Immune System

E3 PreliminaryReviewPEM unclearReview-Narrative

Does Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Represent a Poly-Herpesvirus Post-Virus Infectious Disease?

Ariza, Maria Eugenia, Mena Palomo, Irene, Williams, Marshall V·Viruses·2025

This review examines whether ME/CFS might be caused by multiple herpes viruses working together, rather than a single virus. The researchers point out that many people develop ME/CFS after flu-like illnesses, suggesting viruses play a role, but scientists haven't found just one virus responsible. The study suggests that herpes viruses might cause ME/CFS through a special type of incomplete replication that hasn't been fully studied before.

E3 PreliminaryReviewPEM unclearReview-Narrative

Post-COVID-19 Vaccination (or Long Vax) Syndrome: Putative Manifestation, Pathophysiology, and Therapeutic Options.

Yong, Shin Jie, Kenny, Tiff-Annie, Halim, Alice et al.·Reviews in medical virology·2025

This review describes a condition called post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PCVS), where some people develop long-lasting symptoms similar to long COVID after receiving a vaccine. Symptoms typically start within days to weeks after vaccination and can last for months or years, including fatigue, brain fog, and nerve tingling. The study examines what might cause PCVS and discusses possible treatments, though researchers emphasize that much remains unknown about this condition.

Immune SystemPost-Exertional Malaise

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Profiling Antibody Reactivity to Gut Microbes in ME/CFS Patients.

Perspectives of Rehabilitation Professionals on Long COVID Interventions to Facilitate Return-to-Work.

A network medicine approach to investigating ME/CFS pathogenesis in severely ill patients: a pilot study.

Patient experiences of remote consulting with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia: a qualitative study.

"I would love to say it's the fatigue but honestly it's not": Into Adulthood with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Wearable Devices Enable Long COVID Patients to Decrease Symptom Severity: A Case Series From Pilot User Testing.

Advocating the role of trained immunity in the pathogenesis of ME/CFS: a mini review.

Autonomic phenotyping, brain blood flow control, and cognitive-motor-integration in Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A pilot study.

Reframing Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): Biological Basis of Disease and Recommendations for Supporting Patients.

Quantitative Proteomics on Immune Cells of ME/CFS Patients Using SWATH-MS.

Heightened innate immunity may trigger chronic inflammation, fatigue and post-exertional malaise in ME/CFS.

Heat vs. Fatigue: Hyperthermia as a Possible Treatment Option for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).

Chronic Fatigue in Cancer Survivorship: Psychiatry Versus Oncology or Psychiatry with Oncology?

Using the Ratio of Phosphorylated to Non-phosphorylated Forms of Stress Kinase PKR as a Potential Diagnostic Test for ME/CFS.

Diagnostic overshadowing in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): A qualitative study.

Rasch analysis of the hospital anxiety and depression scale in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

A Direct Relationship Between 'Blood Stasis' and Fibrinaloid Microclots in Chronic, Inflammatory, and Vascular Diseases, and Some Traditional Natural Products Approaches to Treatment.

Oxidative stress is a shared characteristic of ME/CFS and Long COVID.

Does Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Represent a Poly-Herpesvirus Post-Virus Infectious Disease?

Post-COVID-19 Vaccination (or Long Vax) Syndrome: Putative Manifestation, Pathophysiology, and Therapeutic Options.

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