Che, Xiaoyu, Brydges, Christopher R, Yu, Yuanzhi et al. · International journal of molecular sciences · 2022 · DOI
Researchers found that people with ME/CFS have abnormal levels of certain fats and chemicals in their blood compared to healthy people. Specifically, they had lower levels of protective fats called plasmalogens and phospholipids, but higher levels of compounds called dicarboxylic acids. These chemical differences were so distinctive that a computer program could identify ME/CFS patients from their blood work with reasonable accuracy.
This study provides the first metabolomic evidence pointing to a specific cellular dysfunction (peroxisomal dysfunction) in ME/CFS, moving beyond symptom description toward biological mechanisms. If validated, these blood-based metabolite patterns could develop into objective diagnostic tests or biomarkers, addressing the critical clinical need for laboratory confirmation of ME/CFS and potentially enabling earlier diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
This study does not prove that peroxisomal dysfunction causes ME/CFS symptoms, only that it is associated with the disease. It cannot establish whether the metabolic changes are primary drivers of illness or secondary consequences of disease processes. Without replication in other patient cohorts, these findings remain preliminary and may not generalize to all ME/CFS populations.
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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