chronic fatigue syndrome tagged posts

Scale of how chronic fatigue syndrome affects patients’ blood shown for first time

Scale of how myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome affects patients' blood shown for first time
Study design and overview of results. Credit: EMBO Molecular Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44321-025-00258-8

People with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) have significant differences in their blood compared with healthy individuals, a new study reveals, suggesting a path toward more reliable diagnosis of the long-term debilitating illness. The paper is published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

The largest ever biological study of ME/CFS has identified consistent blood differences associated with chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver disease.

Significantly, the results were mostly unaffected by patients’ activity levels, as low activity levels can sometimes hide the biological signs of illness, experts say.

The volume and cons...

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Immune T cells become Exhausted in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients

Immune T cells become exhausted in chronic fatigue syndrome patients
scRNA-seq analysis of T cells in ME. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415119121

Chronic fatigue syndrome creates conditions where pathogen-killing immune T cells become exhausted, according to a new Cornell University study.

The study’s authors knew the immune system was dysregulated in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) but wondered which parts shift with the condition.

A systematic exploration revealed that key CD8+ T cells displayed one of the most pronounced signatures of dysregulation, with signs of constant stimulation that lead to an exhausted state, a condition that is well-studied in cancer.

“This is an important finding for ME/CFS because now we can examine the T cells more car...

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