Search and filter 6,188 studies by evidence level, diagnostic criteria, PEM status, and research domain. Each entry links to the original source.
Studies sorted by evidence level, then year. Browse by topic instead →
Evidence level (E0–E3) reflects study type and replication, not methodological quality. A weak systematic review still sits at E0. How evidence levels work →
481–500 of 2,423 studies
Niu, Haijing, Ming, Dong, Papadelis, Christos et al.·Frontiers in neuroscience·2022
This editorial discusses how fatigue affects the brain and brain function. It serves as an introduction to recent research exploring the connections between fatigue and brain activity, highlighting why scientists are interested in understanding how exhaustion impacts our ability to think and function.
Miao, Xiaoyao, Li, Shuo, Xiao, Bingkun et al.·Biomedical chromatography : BMC·2022
Researchers tested whether a traditional Chinese medicine formula called Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) could help rats with chronic fatigue syndrome caused by stress and food restriction. After 4 weeks of treatment, rats given DBT showed better energy levels, reduced fatigue markers in their blood, and improved physical performance compared to untreated rats with CFS.
Bornstein, Stefan R, Voit-Bak, Karin, Donate, Timo et al.·Molecular psychiatry·2022
Some people who had COVID-19 continue to experience fatigue and breathing problems long after recovering from the infection, a condition called long-COVID. This pattern of ongoing symptoms looks similar to ME/CFS, another condition that causes persistent fatigue. Researchers found that both conditions may involve the body producing antibodies (immune proteins) that attack certain nerve receptors. A treatment called extracorporeal apheresis, which filters blood to remove these harmful antibodies, showed promise in improving symptoms in ME/CFS patients and might also help those with long-COVID.
Smith, Maia P·Journal of clinical epidemiology·2022
This study looked at the total health impact of COVID-19 by measuring not just deaths, but also the years of healthy life lost due to long-COVID symptoms. The researchers found that most of the burden from COVID-19 actually comes from people who survive but live with ongoing disability—not from deaths alone. The study suggests that resources should focus on preventing and treating long-COVID, especially in younger people and women who appear to bear a larger share of this burden.
Sterling, Kathryn G, Dodd, Griffin Kutler, Alhamdi, Shatha et al.·International journal of molecular sciences·2022
This review article examines the connection between gut bacteria, immunity, and the brain in diseases like ME/CFS. The authors explain that the bacteria in our gut can communicate with our brain through chemical signals and nerves, but this communication can be disrupted in certain illnesses. They focus on how the immune system in the gut lining controls which bacteria thrive there, and how changes in these bacterial communities might contribute to neuroimmune diseases.
Khan, Mashfee H, Kirkpatrick, Kennedy P, Deng, Yi et al.·Cureus·2022
This study describes one patient with long COVID who received a stellate ganglion block (SGB)—an injection that calms an overactive nervous system. The treatment helped reduce their fatigue, post-exertional malaise (worsening after activity), shortness of breath, and stomach problems. Because the nervous system controls many body functions, blocking specific nerve signals may help relieve symptoms driven by this dysregulation.
Zhu, Zixin, Zhao, Xueke, Ouyang, Qiuyue et al.·Annals of translational medicine·2022
This study looked at whether spending time in a waterfall forest environment in China could help people with ME/CFS feel better. Researchers tracked what participants looked at, measured their fatigue and mood, and checked blood markers for inflammation and antioxidants. They found that people who spent time near the waterfall had less fatigue and depression, lower inflammation, and higher antioxidant levels.
Rudofker, Eric W, Parker, Hugh, Cornwell, William K·JACC. Case reports·2022
This study describes a small group of long COVID patients whose symptoms improved or went away when they exercised regularly. The researchers suggest that exercise might be a helpful treatment strategy for long COVID, since the condition may partly involve the heart and muscles becoming deconditioned (weak from lack of use).
Li, Chao-Ran, Sun, Zhong-Ren, Wang, Yu-Lin et al.·Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion·2022
This study explores how gut bacteria may contribute to chronic fatigue syndrome and suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion (traditional Chinese medicine techniques) might help by restoring healthy gut bacteria. The researchers believe that an imbalance in gut bacteria can trigger inflammation and metabolism problems in ME/CFS patients, and that these traditional treatments could reduce fatigue by improving gut health and communication between the gut and brain.
Stanculescu, Dominic, Bergquist, Jonas·Frontiers in medicine·2022
This paper suggests that ME/CFS might develop through similar biological problems seen in people with severe critical illnesses. The researchers propose that four interconnected issues—reduced blood flow to tissues, damage to the gut lining, problems with pituitary gland function, and low thyroid hormone activity—could work together to create a cycle that keeps ME/CFS going. Understanding these connections could help develop better treatments.
Sun, Yuanjie, Koyama, Yoshihisa, Shimada, Shoichi·Frontiers in aging neuroscience·2022
This review explores how inflammation in the body's organs—like the gut, lungs, or joints—can trigger inflammation in the brain. The authors describe several pathways by which this happens, including damage to the protective barrier around the brain, activation of immune cells in the brain, and communication through nerves connecting organs to the brain. ME/CFS is highlighted as one disease where this peripheral-to-brain inflammation mechanism may be important.
González-Cebrián, Alba, Almenar-Pérez, Eloy, Xu, Jiabao et al.·Frontiers in medicine·2022
Researchers tested whether tiny particles called extracellular vesicles in blood could help diagnose ME/CFS. They analyzed various substances in blood from patients and healthy controls using a computer analysis method. The study found that certain features of these blood particles, combined with other markers, could potentially identify ME/CFS, though more testing is needed to confirm this works reliably in larger groups.
Soejima, Yoshiaki, Otsuka, Yuki, Tokumasu, Kazuki et al.·Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)·2022
This case report describes a 36-year-old man who had persistent fatigue after COVID-19 infection. Doctors discovered he had abnormally low testosterone levels and pituitary gland problems, which can cause fatigue and other symptoms. After treatment with traditional herbal medicine, his fatigue improved along with his hormone levels and gland function.
Maes, Michael, Kubera, Marta, Kotańska, Magdalena·Frontiers in psychiatry·2022
This study examined proteins and metabolites in ME/CFS patients to understand how the disease works at a molecular level. Researchers found that ME/CFS involves problems with three interconnected cellular systems: how cells handle harmful oxidative stress, how the immune system responds through inflammation, and how cells communicate through a pathway called Wnt/β-catenin. The study suggests ME/CFS may be triggered by various causes—like infections or toxic exposures—but they all damage these same three systems.
Kell, Douglas B, Pretorius, Etheresia·The Biochemical journal·2022
This paper proposes that ME/CFS, Long COVID, and some other chronic diseases may be caused by a harmful cycle involving tiny blood clots blocking small blood vessels, followed by damage when blood flow returns. The authors suggest that this process creates harmful molecules called free radicals and triggers inflammation and other problems. They review existing evidence that treatments like antioxidants, anti-inflammatory drugs, and blood thinners might help address these underlying mechanisms.
Serafimova, Teona, Ascough, Caitlin, Parslow, Roxanne Morin et al.·BMJ paediatrics open·2022
This study explored how children with ME/CFS experience pain by interviewing 13 young people (average age 15). Researchers found that pain is very common, highly varied, and significantly impacts daily life—affecting physical activity, eating, schooling, and mental health. Most importantly, the children reported that current treatments don't work well, highlighting an urgent need for better pain management options.
Renz-Polster, Herbert, Tremblay, Marie-Eve, Bienzle, Dorothee et al.·Frontiers in cellular neuroscience·2022
This study suggests that ME/CFS might be caused by problems with certain support cells in the brain called glia, which help protect and maintain nerve cells. The researchers reviewed existing research on two key ME/CFS symptoms—feeling worse after activity and reduced blood flow to the brain—and found evidence that brain cell dysfunction could explain many of the different problems seen in ME/CFS.
Shah, Mansi, Kakar, Atul, Gogia, Atul·The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India·2022
This study created and tested a Hindi-language version of a tool that doctors use to diagnose ME/CFS. Researchers translated the original English diagnostic criteria into Hindi and verified that it works just as well for Hindi-speaking patients in India. This makes it easier for more people to be accurately identified and diagnosed with ME/CFS, rather than being told they simply have fatigue from long COVID.
Espinosa Rodríguez, P, Martínez Aguilar, A, Ripoll Muñoz, M P et al.·Semergen·2022
This review examines whether long COVID (prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection) might actually be myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS). The authors found striking similarities between long COVID symptoms and the diagnostic criteria used to identify ME/CFS. They recommend that patients with ongoing symptoms after COVID-19 receive blood tests, chest imaging, and long-term medical follow-up to monitor for potential chronic illness development.
Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Du Preez, Stanley, Cabanas, Hélène et al.·Journal of translational medicine·2022
This study found that immune cells called natural killer cells in ME/CFS patients have a broken calcium channel (TRPM3) that prevents them from working properly. When researchers treated these cells overnight with a drug called naltrexone, the calcium channel started working better and the immune cells functioned more like those from healthy people. This suggests that ME/CFS may involve faulty ion channels and that naltrexone could potentially help restore immune cell function.
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Thematic groupings by clinical question or research area.
PET imaging and other studies providing evidence for brain inflammation in ME/CFS.
NeurologyMetabolomics and mitochondrial function studies revealing energy metabolism disruption.
MetabolismStudies identifying potential biological markers for ME/CFS diagnosis and stratification.
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