Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33952227›Full record

Observational studyBMC musculoskeletal disorders2021

Possible involvement of the autonomic nervous system in cervical muscles of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Takayoshi Matsui, Kazuhiro Hara, Makoto Iwata, Shuntaro Hojo, Nobuyuki Shitara, Yuzo Endo, Hideoki Fukuoka, Masaki Matsui, Hiroshi Kawaguchi

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Tissue specific signature of HHV-6 infection in ME/CFS.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Takayoshi MatsuiOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan.
Kazuhiro HaraMatsui Hospital, Kan-nonji 739, Kagawa, Tokyo, 768-0013, Japan.
Makoto IwataOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan.
Shuntaro HojoOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan.
Nobuyuki ShitaraOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan.
Yuzo EndoOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan.
Hideoki FukuokaOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan.
Masaki MatsuiMatsui Hospital, Kan-nonji 739, Kagawa, Tokyo, 768-0013, Japan.
Hiroshi KawaguchiOrthopaedics and Spine Department, Tokyo Neurological Center, Toranomon 4-1-17, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0001, Japan. kawaguchi0126@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7091-4324
Toranomon Hospital · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPatients with myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) sometimes present with stiffness of the cervical muscles. To investigate the pathophysiology of ME/CFS, this observational study compared patients with versus without recovery from ME/CFS through local modulation of the cervical muscles.

methodsOver a period of 11 years, a total of 1226 inpatients with ME/CFS who did not respond to outpatient care were enrolled in this study. All patients received daily cervical muscle physical therapy during hospitalization. Self-rated records documenting the presence or absence of ME/CFS, as well as the representative eight symptoms that frequently accompany it at admission and discharge, were compared. Pupil diameter was also measured to examine autonomic nervous system function involvement.

resultsThe recovery rate of ME/CFS after local therapy was 55.5%, and did not differ significantly by sex, age strata, and hospitalization period. The recovery rates of the eight symptoms were variable (36.6-86.9%); however, those of ME/CFS in the symptom subpopulations were similar (52.3-55.8%). The recovery rates of all symptoms showed strong associations with that of ME/CFS (p < 0.001). The pupil diameter was more constricted in the ME/CFS-recovered patients than in the ME/CFS-unrecovered patients in the total population and the subpopulations stratified by sex, age, and hospitalization period.

conclusionsThere was a strong association between the recovery of ME/CFS and other related whole-body symptoms. The recovery of ME/CFS may be partly linked to amelioration of the autonomic nervous system in the cervical muscles.

trial registrationUMIN000036634 . Registered 1 May 2019 - Retrospectively registered.

Indexed as

Fatigue Syndrome, ChronicAutonomic Nervous SystemHumansMusclesAutonomic nervous systemCervical muscleMyalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)

Identifiers

PMID33952227
PMCPMC8101228
OpenAlexW3158103760

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.