Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40789036›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

Circulating cell-free RNA signatures for the characterization and diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Anne E Gardella, Daniel Eweis-LaBolle, Conor J Loy, Emma D Belcher, Joan S Lenz, Carl J Franconi, Sally Y Scofield, Andrew Grimson, Maureen R Hanson, Iwijn De Vlaminck

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. 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 · 2025
    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

10 authors.

Anne E GardellaDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.ORCID 0000-0003-1860-8316
Daniel Eweis-LaBolleDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Conor J LoyDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.ORCID 0000-0001-8816-4293
Emma D BelcherMeinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Joan S LenzMeinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Carl J FranconiDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Sally Y ScofieldMeinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Andrew GrimsonDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Maureen R HansonDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.ORCID 0000-0001-8141-3058
Iwijn De VlaminckMeinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850.ORCID 0000-0001-6085-7311

Funding

Clinical and Translational Science AwardUL1TR001873 · NCATS · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI REILLY, MUREDACH P · 2016 to 2025
$99.0M
Disparities in COVID Disease Severity and Outcomes in New York CityUL1TR002384 · NCATS · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI JULIANNE L IMPERATO-MCGINLEY · 2017 to 2026
$86.2M
Research CoreU54AI178855 · NIAID · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · PI Jennifer K Grenier · 2023 to 2026
$9.4M
Probing the Pathophysiology of ME/CFS through Proteomics and MetabolomicsU54NS105541 · NINDS · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · PI GRIMSON, ANDREW W · 2017 to 2021
$9.4M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001873NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR002384NIAID NIH HHS U54 AI178855NINDS NIH HHS U54 NS105541
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

People living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) experience heterogeneous and debilitating symptoms that lack sufficient biological explanation, compounded by the absence of accurate, noninvasive diagnostic tools. To address these challenges, we explored circulating cell-free RNA (cfRNA) as a blood-borne bioanalyte to monitor ME/CFS. cfRNA is released into the bloodstream during cellular turnover and reflects dynamic changes in gene expression, cellular signaling, and tissue-specific processes. We profiled cfRNA in plasma by RNA sequencing for 93 ME/CFS cases and 75 healthy sedentary controls, then applied machine learning to develop diagnostic models and advance our understanding of ME/CFS pathobiology. A generalized linear model with least absolute shrinkage selector operator regression trained on condition-specific signatures achieved a test-set AUC of 0.81 and an accuracy of 77%. Immune cfRNA deconvolution revealed differences in platelet-derived cfRNA between cases and controls, as well as elevated levels of plasmacytoid dendritic, monocyte, and T cell-derived cfRNA in ME/CFS. Biological network analysis further implicated immune dysfunction in ME/CFS, with signatures of cytokine signaling and T cell exhaustion. These findings demonstrate the utility of RNA liquid biopsy as a minimally invasive tool for unraveling the complex biology behind chronic illnesses.

Indexed as

Cell-Free Nucleic AcidsFatigue Syndrome, ChronicAdultBiomarkersCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansMachine LearningMaleMiddle AgedBiomarkersCell-Free Nucleic Acidscell-free RNAcell signalingdiagnosismachine learningME/CFS

Identifiers

PMID40789036
PMCPMC12377778

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.