ArticleDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)2019
The IDO Metabolic Trap Hypothesis for the Etiology of ME/CFS.
Article in Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential application of brain-gut axis-based treatments in Long COVID and ME/CFS: a case-based systematic review.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Tryptophan Metabolism and Aryl-Hydrocarbon Receptor Agonists in the Gut Microbiome of People With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Article
- Article
- Gut Microbiome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): Insights into Disease Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Effect of Cervical Manual Therapy on Sleep Quality: A Scoping Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Assessment of the Gut Microbiome in Patients with Coexisting Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Nutrients · 2025Article
- The potential therapeutic approaches targeting gut health in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a narrative review.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- The microbiota-gut-brain axis in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a narrative review of an emerging field.European journal of translational myology · 2025Article
- The search for a blood-based biomarker for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): from biochemistry to electrophysiology.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Measurement of Genetic Variations in ME/CFS Patients in the IDO2 Gene Encoding an Enzyme Metabolizing Tryptophan.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Dysregulation of the Kynurenine Pathway, Cytokine Expression Pattern, and Proteomics Profile Link to Symptomology in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).Molecular neurobiology · 2024Article
- Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: the biology of a neglected disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Developing a Blood Cell-Based Diagnostic Test for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Using Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- Towards a Better Understanding of the Complexities of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long COVID.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Causal Effects between Gut Microbiome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Achieving symptom relief in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis by targeting the neuro-immune interface and optimizing disease tolerance.Oxford open immunology · 2023Article
- Exploring the joint potential of inflammation, immunity, and receptor-based biomarkers for evaluating ME/CFS progression.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Could the kynurenine pathway be the key missing piece of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) complex puzzle?Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2022Review
- Molecular Mechanisms of Neuroinflammation in ME/CFS and Long COVID to Sustain Disease and Promote Relapses.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- The Pathobiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Case for Neuroglial Failure.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating noncommunicable disease brandishing an enormous worldwide disease burden with some evidence of inherited genetic risk. Absence of measurable changes in patients' standard blood work has necessitated ad hoc symptom-driven therapies and a dearth of mechanistic hypotheses regarding its etiology and possible cure. A new hypothesis, the indolamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) metabolic trap, was developed and formulated as a mathematical model. The historical occurrence of ME/CFS outbreaks is a singular feature of the disease and implies that any predisposing genetic mutation must be common. A database search for common damaging mutations in human enzymes produces 208 hits, including IDO2 with four such mutations. Non-functional IDO2, combined with well-established substrate inhibition of IDO1 and kinetic asymmetry of the large neutral amino acid transporter, LAT1, yielded a mathematical model of tryptophan metabolism that displays both physiological and pathological steady-states. Escape from the pathological one requires an exogenous perturbation. This model also identifies a critical point in cytosolic tryptophan abundance beyond which descent into the pathological steady-state is inevitable. If, however, means can be discovered to return cytosolic tryptophan below the critical point, return to the normal physiological steady-state is assured. Testing this hypothesis for any cell type requires only labelled tryptophan, a means to measure cytosolic tryptophan and kynurenine, and the standard tools of tracer kinetics.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.