ReviewFrontiers in immunology2021
Epstein-Barr Virus and the Origin of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Review in Frontiers in immunology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
64 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation of viral infection as an etiology of ME/CFS: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of translational medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review with meta-analysis of active herpesvirus infections in patients with COVID-19: Old players on the new field.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Virobiome-mediated regulation of microbiota-gut-brain axis signaling and neuroimmune homeostasis.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Virus reactivation in acute and long COVID-19.Nature · 2026Article
- Neurological impairment in long COVID: implications for neurodegenerative disease.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Fatigue-associated gut bacteria in Japanese healthy adults characterized by metagenomic analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Understanding the long-term neurological effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Raman Spectroscopy Combined with Machine Learning Reveals Myalgic Encephalomyelitis-Associated Biomolecular Signatures at Rest and After Standardized Stress.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Underuse of Pharmacologic Therapies for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Before Specialist Evaluation.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Metabolic reprogramming in diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic disorders: exploring the Warburg effect, ketones, and SGLT2 inhibitors.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Elevated serum levels of interleukin-11 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Interlaboratory Concordance of a Multiplex ELISA for Lyme and Lyme-like Illness Using Australian Samples and Commercial Reference Panels: A Proof-of-Concept Study.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Web of Science-Based Visualization of Mapping Global Scientific Production on Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Autoimmune Diseases: A Bibliometric Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Disruption of circadian rhythms and behavior in Drosophila melanogaster induced by Epstein-Barr virus: insights into viral infections and host physiology.Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2025Article
- AI-driven multi-omics modeling of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Nature medicine · 2025Article
- Seasonal Coronavirus-Induced Immunological Imprinting and Previous Herpesvirus Infections in Patients With Long COVID.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- Population-scale sequencing resolves correlates and determinants of latent Epstein-Barr Virus infection.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- An In-Depth Exploration of the Autoantibody Immune Profile in ME/CFS Using Novel Antigen Profiling Techniques.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) affects approximately 1% of the general population. It is a chronic, disabling, multi-system disease for which there is no effective treatment. This is probably related to the limited knowledge about its origin. Here, we summarized the current knowledge about the pathogenesis of ME/CFS and revisit the immunopathobiology of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Given the similarities between EBV-associated autoimmune diseases and cancer in terms of poor T cell surveillance of cells with EBV latency, expanded EBV-infected cells in peripheral blood and increased antibodies against EBV, we hypothesize that there could be a common etiology generated by cells with EBV latency that escape immune surveillance. Albeit inconclusive, multiple studies in patients with ME/CFS have suggested an altered cellular immunity and augmented Th2 response that could result from mechanisms of evasion to some pathogens such as EBV, which has been identified as a risk factor in a subset of ME/CFS patients. Namely, cells with latency may evade the immune system in individuals with genetic predisposition to develop ME/CFS and in consequence, there could be poor CD4 T cell immunity to mitogens and other specific antigens, as it has been described in some individuals. Ultimately, we hypothesize that within ME/CFS there is a subgroup of patients with DRB1 and DQB1 alleles that could confer greater susceptibility to EBV, where immune evasion mechanisms generated by cells with latency induce immunodeficiency. Accordingly, we propose new endeavors to investigate if anti-EBV therapies could be effective in selected ME/CFS patients.
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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.