ArticleBrain imaging and behavior2020
Evidence of widespread metabolite abnormalities in Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: assessment with whole-brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Article in Brain imaging and behavior, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mapping cerebral blood flow in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and orthostatic intolerance: insights from a systematic review.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- The potential impact of exercise on affect and neuroinflammation in older adults living with fibromyalgia: a scoping review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Creatine in Health and Disease.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review of neurological impairments in myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome using neuroimaging techniques.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- No Signs of Neuroinflammation in Women With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Q Fever Fatigue Syndrome Using the TSPO Ligand [Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2022Trial
- Neurometabolite abnormalities and associations with epilepsy duration and cognition in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsies.Epilepsia open · 2026Article
- Multimodal approach to identify neuropsychophysiological subgroups in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and their relevance for rehabilitation: protocol for a mechanistic cross-sectional and longitudinal study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Tryptophan Metabolism and Aryl-Hydrocarbon Receptor Agonists in the Gut Microbiome of People With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Article
- Neurovascular and synaptic milieu of brain-resident cells in cognitive dysfunction of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Pathophysiological mechanisms of fatigue and multidisciplinary management strategies (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Evidence of White Matter Neuroinflammation in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Diffusion-Based Neuroinflammation Imaging Study.Human brain mapping · 2026Article
- An Overview of Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Exploring a genetic basis for the metabolic perturbations in ME/CFS using UK biobank.iScience · 2026Article
- Chronic stress and cognitive dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: HPA axis dysregulation and hippocampal plasticity.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Tuina for chronic fatigue syndrome: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial integrating tryptophan metabolism, gut microbiota, and brain network alterations.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Glymphatic System Dysregulation as a Key Contributor to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Integrated immune, hormonal, and transcriptomic profiling reveals sex-specific dysregulation in long COVID patients with ME/CFS.Cell reports. Medicine · 2025Article
- Differential Characteristics and Comparison Between Long-COVID Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Brain and muscle chemistry in myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID: a 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Previous neuroimaging studies have detected markers of neuroinflammation in patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is suitable for measuring brain metabolites linked to inflammation, but has only been applied to discrete regions of interest in ME/CFS. We extended the MRS analysis of ME/CFS by capturing multi-voxel information across the entire brain. Additionally, we tested whether MRS-derived brain temperature is elevated in ME/CFS patients. Fifteen women with ME/CFS and 15 age- and gender-matched healthy controls completed fatigue and mood symptom questionnaires and whole-brain echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI). Choline (CHO), myo-inositol (MI), lactate (LAC), and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) were quantified in 47 regions, expressed as ratios over creatine (CR), and compared between ME/CFS patients and controls using independent-samples t-tests. Brain temperature was similarly tested between groups. Significant between-group differences were detected in several regions, most notably elevated CHO/CR in the left anterior cingulate (p < 0.001). Metabolite ratios in seven regions were correlated with fatigue (p < 0.05). ME/CFS patients had increased temperature in the right insula, putamen, frontal cortex, thalamus, and the cerebellum (all p < 0.05), which was not attributable to increased body temperature or differences in cerebral perfusion. Brain temperature increases converged with elevated LAC/CR in the right insula, right thalamus, and cerebellum (all p < 0.05). We report metabolite and temperature abnormalities in ME/CFS patients in widely distributed regions. Our findings may indicate that ME/CFS involves neuroinflammation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.