ME/CFS Evidence Browser — Classified Studies on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

3861–3880 of 6,188 studies

E3 PreliminaryReviewPEM unclearReview-Narrative

The origin of autoimmune diseases: is there a role for ancestral HLA-II haplotypes in immune hyperactivity.

Ruiz-Pablos, Manuel, Paiva, Bruno, Zabaleta, Aintzane·Frontiers in immunology·2025

This review examines how certain genes related to immune system recognition (HLA genes) might make some people more susceptible to autoimmune diseases and conditions like ME/CFS. These genes were originally helpful in protecting our ancestors from infections, but in today's environment they may cause the immune system to overreact. The authors suggest that modern stressors like infections, vaccines, and obesity might trigger this hyperactive immune response in people carrying these genes.

Immune System

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM not requiredMechanistic

PKM2 accelerated the progression of chronic fatigue syndrome via promoting the H4K12la/ NF-κB induced neuroinflammation and mitochondrial damage.

Sun, Meng, Zhang, Xinwen, Feng, Xinli et al.·Scientific reports·2025

This study in mice explored how a protein called PKM2 may contribute to ME/CFS by increasing inflammation in the brain and damaging energy-producing structures inside cells (mitochondria). Researchers found that when PKM2 levels increased, cognitive problems worsened and brain cells showed more damage, while reducing PKM2 improved these outcomes. The mechanism involves lactate buildup and activation of inflammatory pathways in the brain.

Neuroinflammation

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM not requiredMechanistic

Ultrasound-assisted preparation of sweet corn cob polysaccharide selenium nanoparticles alleviates symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Wang, Jingyang, Wang, Xin, Xiu, Weiye et al.·Food & function·2025

Researchers created tiny particles made from selenium and sweet corn cob material and tested whether they could help reduce fatigue symptoms in mice with chronic fatigue syndrome. The particles appeared to improve energy production in cells and reduce harmful oxidative stress, while also making positive changes to the bacteria in the digestive system.

Energy Metabolism

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 PreliminaryCommentaryPEM unclearEditorial

Skeletal muscle adaptations and post-exertional malaise in long COVID.

Charlton, Braeden T, Goulding, Richie P, Jaspers, Richard T et al.·Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM·2025

This article reviews evidence that long COVID symptoms—especially worsening after activity (post-exertional malaise)—may be caused by problems with how muscles produce energy, damage to blood vessel function, and changes in muscle fiber types that make them rely more on less-efficient energy pathways. The authors suggest that physical or mental exertion may trigger rapid muscle damage and immune cell infiltration, which could explain why patients feel worse after activity.

Post-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryReviewPEM not requiredReview-Narrative

[Exploration on the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome with acupuncture and moxibustion based on the "body-qi-mind trinity life view"].

Xie, Shuolin, Deng, Fei, Fang, Fang et al.·Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion·2025

This paper presents a traditional Chinese medicine approach to treating ME/CFS that combines acupuncture and moxibustion (heat therapy). The authors propose that ME/CFS involves imbalances in the body's physical health, energy circulation, and mental state, and suggest specific acupuncture points and techniques designed to address each of these areas. The recommended treatment focuses on relieving muscle pain, improving energy flow, and calming the mind.

E3 PreliminaryCohortPEM unclearCase-Control

Clinically Meaningful Improvements in Long COVID Symptoms Following Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy Combined with Lifestyle Interventions-A Clinical Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Colgan, Dana Dharmakaya, Stadler, Diane D, Hope, Aluko A et al.·Case reports in clinical medicine·2025

This study describes one patient with Long COVID who experienced significant improvements in their symptoms after following a special diet (ketogenic diet) combined with lifestyle changes including exercise, better sleep schedules, and stress-reduction practices delivered remotely. The authors reviewed existing research suggesting this combined approach might help address underlying problems in Long COVID and support the body's ability to handle stress.

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM unclearMethods-Paper

Multifaceted evolution focused on maximal exploitation of domain knowledge for the consensus inference of Gene Regulatory Networks.

Segura-Ortiz, Adrián, Giménez-Orenga, Karen, García-Nieto, José et al.·Computers in biology and medicine·2025

Researchers created a new computer tool called BIO-INSIGHT that helps scientists better understand which genes control other genes by analyzing genetic data from patients. They tested this tool on data from people with fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, and both conditions together, and found it could identify different gene patterns specific to each illness. This could help doctors find better ways to diagnose and treat these conditions in the future.

Biomarkers

E3 PreliminaryGuidelinePEM requiredGuideline

Multidisciplinary collaborative guidance on the assessment and treatment of patients with Long COVID: A compendium statement.

Cheng, Abby L, Herman, Eric, Abramoff, Benjamin et al.·PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation·2025

This is a comprehensive clinical guide created by over 40 Long COVID treatment centers to help doctors evaluate and care for Long COVID patients. The guide covers how to assess symptoms, manage common problems like fatigue and brain fog, and help patients return to work or daily activities. It emphasizes that Long COVID is real, takes it seriously, and recommends treatments based on what doctors currently know while acknowledging many unknowns remain.

Post-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryCommentaryPEM unclearEditorial

Long Covid in Year 5: Some Progress, Still Many Questions.

Meagher, Timothy·Journal of insurance medicine (New York, N.Y.)·2025

Five years after Long Covid was first recognized in 2020, researchers have made progress understanding the condition, but significant challenges remain. While most people's symptoms improve over time, scientists still haven't found reliable blood tests to diagnose it or effective treatments. Long Covid appears to share many similarities with ME/CFS, and the condition can develop or worsen after repeated COVID-19 infections.

Long COVID Overlap

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM not requiredObservational

Cytokine profiles associated with persisting symptoms of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.

Kwon, Ji-Soo, Chang, Euijin, Jang, Hyeon Mu et al.·The Korean journal of internal medicine·2025

After COVID-19, some people develop long-lasting symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and difficulty exercising—a condition called long COVID or PASC. This study measured immune system markers (called cytokines) in the blood of 79 people and found that certain symptoms were linked to higher levels of specific immune proteins, suggesting the immune system may stay overactive in some long COVID patients.

Immune SystemPost-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM unclearMethods-Paper

Application of DNA Methylome Analysis to Patients with ME/CFS.

Peppercorn, Katie, Edgar, Christina D, Al Momani, Suzan et al.·Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)·2025

This study describes a technique called RRBS that examines how chemical tags on our DNA (called methylation) are different in ME/CFS patients compared to healthy people. These tags act like switches that turn genes on or off, and abnormal patterns might help explain why ME/CFS causes such severe symptoms. The researchers show how this method can be used to identify patterns that could eventually lead to better diagnostic tests or ways to track how the illness changes over time.

Biomarkers

E3 PreliminaryBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Mixed methods study of views and experience of non-hospitalised individuals with long COVID of using pacing interventions.

McMullan, Christel, Haroon, Shamil, Turner, Grace et al.·Scientific reports·2025

This study asked people with Long COVID about their experiences using 'pacing'—a strategy to manage energy by balancing activity and rest. Researchers gave questionnaires to 28 people and interviewed 19 of them. Most participants found pacing helpful for planning activities and staying motivated, though some found it complicated and difficult to follow without clearer guidance.

E3 PreliminaryCohortPEM unclearCross-Sectional

Comparing DNA Methylation Landscapes in Peripheral Blood from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long COVID Patients.

Peppercorn, Katie, Sharma, Sayan, Edgar, Christina D et al.·International journal of molecular sciences·2025

This study examined chemical markers called DNA methylation in blood cells from people with ME/CFS, Long COVID, and healthy individuals. Researchers found that while the overall patterns were similar between ME/CFS and Long COVID patients, there were specific differences in which genes were chemically marked, suggesting these two conditions may have related but distinct biological changes. The findings lay groundwork for understanding what makes these post-viral conditions work at a molecular level.

E3 PreliminaryCohortPEM requiredCase-Control

Multimodal Telerehabilitation in Post COVID-19 Condition Recovery: A Series of 12 Cases.

Carpallo-Porcar, Beatriz, Beamonte, Esther Del Corral, Jiménez-Sánchez, Carolina et al.·Reports (MDPI)·2025

This study tested whether people recovering from COVID-19 could improve their symptoms through home-based exercise and education delivered via video appointments over 12 weeks. Most patients improved in fatigue, exercise capacity, and muscle strength, though breathlessness did not improve as much. The results suggest that remote rehabilitation programs delivered from home may be helpful for people with long COVID symptoms.

Post-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryDiagnosticPEM unclear

Analysis of Transient Receptor Potential Ion Channels in ME/CFS.

Eaton-Fitch, Natalie, Muraki, Katsuhiko, Sasso, Etianne Martini et al.·Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)·2025

This study describes the scientific methods used to examine special proteins called ion channels (specifically TRPM3) in the cells of ME/CFS patients. Researchers took blood samples, isolated specific immune cells, and used advanced techniques like imaging and electrical measurements to see how these ion channels work. This work provides a detailed handbook for scientists studying how ion channel problems might contribute to ME/CFS.

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 PreliminaryCohortPEM not requiredCase-Control

A novel frameshift mutation in ADCK1 identified in a case of chronic fatigue syndrome successfully treated with oral 5-ALA/SFC.

Koga, Tomohiro, Kita, Kiyoshi, Okumura, Junko et al.·Immunological medicine·2025

This study reports a single patient with ME/CFS who carried a rare genetic mutation affecting how cells produce energy. When treated with a supplement called 5-ALA/SFC along with other nutrients, the patient's fatigue and daily functioning significantly improved. This case suggests that some people with ME/CFS may have mitochondrial (cellular energy) problems related to this genetic change, and that certain supplements might help.

Energy Metabolism

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM requiredMechanistic

Gulf War Illness Induced Sex-Specific Transcriptional Differences Under Stressful Conditions.

Frank, Joshua, Tehrani, Lily, Gamer, Jackson et al.·International journal of molecular sciences·2025

Researchers studied how the immune system responds to physical stress in Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI), a condition similar to ME/CFS with fatigue, brain fog, and exhaustion. They found that men and women with GWI have different patterns of immune system activation during and after exercise, suggesting their bodies handle stress differently. These differences could help doctors develop better tests and treatments tailored to each person's sex.

BiomarkersImmune SystemPost-Exertional Malaise

E3 PreliminaryMechanismPEM unclear

Unwilling or unable? Interpreting effort task performance in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Kirvin-Quamme, Andrew, Kirke, Karen D, Junge, Oscar et al.·Frontiers in psychology·2025

This study examined how people with ME/CFS perform on effort-based tasks and what their performance reveals about the condition. Researchers investigated whether people with ME/CFS struggle with these tasks because they are unable to exert effort (due to physical limitations) or unwilling to do so (due to motivation or other psychological factors). Understanding this distinction is important for interpreting test results and designing appropriate treatments.

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The origin of autoimmune diseases: is there a role for ancestral HLA-II haplotypes in immune hyperactivity.

PKM2 accelerated the progression of chronic fatigue syndrome via promoting the H4K12la/ NF-κB induced neuroinflammation and mitochondrial damage.

Ultrasound-assisted preparation of sweet corn cob polysaccharide selenium nanoparticles alleviates symptoms of 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.

Skeletal muscle adaptations and post-exertional malaise in long COVID.

[Exploration on the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome with acupuncture and moxibustion based on the "body-qi-mind trinity life view"].

Clinically Meaningful Improvements in Long COVID Symptoms Following Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy Combined with Lifestyle Interventions-A Clinical Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Multifaceted evolution focused on maximal exploitation of domain knowledge for the consensus inference of Gene Regulatory Networks.

Multidisciplinary collaborative guidance on the assessment and treatment of patients with Long COVID: A compendium statement.

Long Covid in Year 5: Some Progress, Still Many Questions.

Cytokine profiles associated with persisting symptoms of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.

Application of DNA Methylome Analysis to Patients with ME/CFS.

Mixed methods study of views and experience of non-hospitalised individuals with long COVID of using pacing interventions.

Comparing DNA Methylation Landscapes in Peripheral Blood from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long COVID Patients.

Multimodal Telerehabilitation in Post COVID-19 Condition Recovery: A Series of 12 Cases.

Analysis of Transient Receptor Potential Ion Channels in ME/CFS.

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

A novel frameshift mutation in ADCK1 identified in a case of chronic fatigue syndrome successfully treated with oral 5-ALA/SFC.

Gulf War Illness Induced Sex-Specific Transcriptional Differences Under Stressful Conditions.

Unwilling or unable? Interpreting effort task performance in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

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Neuroinflammation Evidence

Metabolism & Mitochondria

Biomarkers

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