Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34609538›Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2022

Neurochemical abnormalities in chronic fatigue syndrome: a pilot magnetic resonance spectroscopy study at 7 Tesla.

Beata R Godlewska, Stephen Williams, Uzay E Emir, Chi Chen, Ann L Sharpley, Ana Jorge Goncalves, Monique I Andersson, William Clarke, Brian Angus, Philip J Cowen

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Psychopharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% 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

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025
    Pooled it
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  8. Creatine and post-viral fatigue syndrome: an update.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025
    Review
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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

10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Beata R GodlewskaPsychopharmacology Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Stephen WilliamsDivision of Informatics, Imaging and Data Science, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Uzay E EmirWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Chi ChenPsychopharmacology Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ann L SharpleyPsychopharmacology Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ana Jorge GoncalvesWolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Monique I AnderssonNuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
William ClarkeWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Brian AngusNuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Philip J CowenPsychopharmacology Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. phil.cowen@psych.ox.ac.uk.
University of Oxford · GBManchester Academic Health Science Centre · GBUniversity of Manchester · GBWarneford Hospital · GBWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/K022202/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a common and burdensome illness with a poorly understood pathophysiology, though many of the characteristic symptoms are likely to be of brain origin. The use of high-field proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) enables the detection of a range of brain neurochemicals relevant to aetiological processes that have been linked to CFS, for example, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.

methodsWe studied 22 CFS patients and 13 healthy controls who underwent MRS scanning at 7 T with a voxel placed in the anterior cingulate cortex. Neurometabolite concentrations were calculated using the unsuppressed water signal as a reference.

resultsCompared to controls, CFS patients had lowered levels of glutathione, total creatine and myo-inositol in anterior cingulate cortex. However, when using N-acetylaspartate as a reference metabolite, only myo-inositol levels continued to be significantly lower in CFS participants.

conclusionsThe changes in glutathione and creatine are consistent with the presence of oxidative and energetic stress in CFS patients and are potentially remediable by nutritional intervention. A reduction in myo-inositol would be consistent with glial dysfunction. However, the relationship of the neurochemical abnormalities to the causation of CFS remains to be established, and the current findings require prospective replication in a larger sample.

Indexed as

Fatigue Syndrome, ChronicAspartic AcidCreatineHumansInositolMagnetic Resonance ImagingMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyProspective StudiesAspartic AcidCreatineInositolAnterior cingulate cortexChronic fatigue syndromeCreatineGlutathioneMRSMyo-inositol

Identifiers

PMID34609538
PMCPMC8770374
OpenAlexW3202107094

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.