ArticlePloS one2020
The effect of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) severity on cellular bioenergetic function.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): A Review of Recent Evidence and Future Research Directions Toward the Elucidation of a Metabolic, Immunologic, and Signaling Cascade.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Effect of "Tongdu Yupi Tiaoshen" electroacupuncture on behavioral performance and hippocampal structure and function in chronic fatigue syndrome rats.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2026Article
- Reframing ME/CFS: toward a unified mechanistic model of chronic post-infectious diseases.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Preventive Effects of Probiotic Formula on Metabolic Stress Associated Physical Fatigue in Forced Swimming and LPS-Induced Mouse Models.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Genetic depletion of the early autophagy protein ATG13 impairs mitochondrial energy metabolism, augments oxidative stress, induces the polarization of macrophages to the M1 inflammatory mode, and compromises myelin integrity in skeletal muscle.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2026Article
- An Overview of Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Mapping the complexity of ME/CFS: Evidence for abnormal energy metabolism, altered immune profile, and vascular dysfunction.Cell reports. Medicine · 2025Article
- Differential Characteristics and Comparison Between Long-COVID Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Circulating cell-free RNA signatures for the characterization and diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Incidence and Prevalence of Post-COVID-19 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Report from the Observational RECOVER-Adult Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Observational
- PKM2 accelerated the progression of chronic fatigue syndrome via promoting the H4K12la/ NF-κB induced neuroinflammation and mitochondrial damage.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- mTORC1 syndrome (TorS): unifying paradigm for PASC, ME/CFS and PAIS.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Unravelling the Connection Between Energy Metabolism and Immune Senescence/Exhaustion in Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Hemodialysis employing molecular hydrogen (HScientific reports · 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
- Review
- Exertional Exhaustion (Post-Exertional Malaise, PEM) Evaluated by the Effects of Exercise on Cerebrospinal Fluid Metabolomics-Lipidomics and Serine Pathway in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Key Pathophysiological Role of Skeletal Muscle Disturbance in Post COVID and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): Accumulated Evidence.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/ Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has been associated with abnormalities in mitochondrial function. In this study we have analysed previous bioenergetics data in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using new techniques in order to further elucidate differences between ME/CFS and healthy control cohorts. We stratified our ME/CFS cohort into two individual cohorts representing moderately and severely affected patients in order to determine if disease severity is associated with bioenergetic function in PBMCs. Both ME/CFS cohorts showed reduced mitochondrial function when compared to a healthy control cohort. This shows that disease severity does not correlate with mitochondrial function and even those with a moderate form of the disease show evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction. Equations devised by another research group have enabled us to calculate ATP-linked respiration rates and glycolytic parameters. Parameters of glycolytic function were calculated by taking into account respiratory acidification. This revealed severely affected ME/CFS patients to have higher rates of respiratory acidification and showed the importance of accounting for respiratory acidification when calculating parameters of glycolytic function. Analysis of previously published glycolysis data, after taking into account respiratory acidification, showed severely affected patients have reduced glycolysis compared to moderately affected patients and healthy controls. Rates of ATP-linked respiration were also calculated and shown to be lower in both ME/CFS cohorts. This study shows that severely affected patients have mitochondrial and glycolytic impairments, which sets them apart from moderately affected patients who only have mitochondrial impairment. This may explain why these patients present with a more severe phenotype.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.