Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40897283›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2025

Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) alleles suggested to be associated with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Donia Jamal Ramadan, Katherine M Kichula, Sudan Tao, Timothy Porfilio, Asgeir Lande, Øystein Fluge, Olav Mella, Elin Bolle Strand, Ola Didrik Saugstad, Paul J Norman and 2 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

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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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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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

12 authors.

Donia Jamal RamadanDepartment of Medical Genetics, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Katherine M KichulaDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Sudan TaoDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA; Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Timothy PorfilioDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA; Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Asgeir LandeDepartment of Medical Genetics, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Øystein FlugeDepartment of Oncology and Medical Physics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Olav MellaDepartment of Oncology and Medical Physics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Elin Bolle StrandCFS/ME Senteret, Oslo University Hospital, Aker, Oslo, Norway.
Ola Didrik SaugstadDepartment of Pediatric Research, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Paul J NormanDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA; Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
Benedicte A LieDepartment of Medical Genetics, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Immunology, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Marte K VikenDepartment of Medical Genetics, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Immunology, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: m.k.viken@ous-research.no.

Funding

Insights Into Immune-Related Diseases Born from Population GenomicsU01AI090905 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · PI Paul John Norman · 2010 to 2026
$10.9M
NIAID NIH HHS U01 AI090905
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic and debilitating disease with unknown cause. Involvement of infection and immune dysregulation has been suggested, including changes in immune cell subsets and abnormal functions of natural killer (NK) cells. The regulatory NK cell receptors, killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) have previously been investigated in small cohorts of ME/CFS patients with conflicting results regarding gene content. Here, we studied KIR genes also at the allelic level using high-resolution sequencing, in 418 ME/CFS patients and 473 healthy controls. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genotype data were included for KIR ligand annotation. Our healthy control data represent KIR frequencies for a Norwegian population, which have not previously been reported. We found no association between ME/CFS and KIR gene content or copy number variations. However, our data suggested that specific KIR alleles at loci encoding inhibitory receptors were associated with ME/CFS, which was further supported by allelic haplotype analyses. Three alleles were more frequent in patients, i.e. KIR3DL3*002 (OR = 1.43, 95 % CI (1.09-1.86), p = 0.009), KIR3DL1*020 (OR = 2.20, 95 % CI (1.19-4.06), p = 0.01) and KIR3DL2*009 (OR = 1.56, 95 % CI (1.09-2.23), p = 0.01), while two alleles had a reduced patient frequency, i.e. KIR3DL3*013 (OR = 0.60, 95 % CI (0.42-0.86), p = 0.005) and KIR3DL2*010 (OR = 0.46, 95 % CI (0.30-0.71), p = 0.0005). Our data support an involvement of NK cells in ME/CFS.

Indexed as

Fatigue Syndrome, ChronicReceptors, KIRAdultAllelesDNA Copy Number VariationsFemaleGene FrequencyGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenotypeHaplotypesHumansKiller Cells, NaturalMaleMiddle AgedNorwayReceptors, KIRAssociationHLAKIRME/CFS

Identifiers

PMID40897283
PMCPMC13201895

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Registered trials

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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.