Alegre, José, Camprubí, Sandra, García-Quintana, Ana · Pain management · 2013 · DOI
Researchers tested whether a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), which naturally reduces inflammation in the body, could help a woman with ME/CFS. She received weekly intravenous infusions for 8 weeks. After treatment, she showed improvements in how much physical work she could do, her memory, and thinking skills, and her inflammatory markers normalized. She was eventually able to return to part-time work.
This study is notable because it presents objective biomarker changes (monocyte elastase normalization) alongside functional improvements in a patient with ME/CFS, and provides biological plausibility through AAT's anti-inflammatory mechanism. It may prompt further investigation of immune dysregulation in ME/CFS and development of larger controlled trials exploring immunomodulatory approaches.
This single case cannot establish that AAT is an effective treatment for CFS generally—individual responses vary widely and placebo effects cannot be excluded without a control group. The study does not prove causation (that AAT caused the improvements) or demonstrate efficacy would replicate in other patients. Temporal correlation between treatment and improvement does not establish that AAT was responsible.
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 →
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