ME and CFS Medical Abnormalities – Muscle Issues
Following is a list of articles about abnormalities in muscles in ME and CFS.
Links to the more than 1,000 peer-reviewed journal articles are listed on the ME and CFS Medical Abnormalities page of this website.
Gerwyn M, Maes M. Mechanisms Explaining Muscle Fatigue and Muscle Pain in Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): a Review of Recent Findings. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2017 Jan;19(1):1. PMID: 28116577
The authors review potential causes of muscle dysfunction seen in many patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) such as the effects of oxidative and nitrosative stress (O&NS) and mitochondrial impairments together with reduced heat shock protein production and a range of metabolic abnormalities.
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Rutherford G, Manning P, Newton JL. Understanding Muscle Dysfunction in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. J Aging Res. 2016;2016:2497348. PMID: 26998359
Bioenergetic muscle dysfunction is evident in CFS/ME, with a tendency towards an overutilisation of the lactate dehydrogenase pathway following low-level exercise, in addition to slowed acid clearance after exercise.
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Lengert N, Drossel B. In silico analysis of exercise intolerance in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Biophys Chem. 2015 Jul;202:21-31. PMID: 25899994
The authors present a model which simulates metabolite dynamics in skeletal muscles during exercise and recovery. CFS simulations exhibit critically low levels of ATP, where an increased rate of cell death would be expected. To stabilize the energy supply at low ATP concentrations the total adenine nucleotide pool is reduced substantially causing a prolonged recovery time even without consideration of other factors, such as immunological dysregulations and oxidative stress. Repeated exercises worsen this situation considerably. Furthermore, CFS simulations exhibited an increased acidosis and lactate accumulation consistent with experimental observations.
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Brown AE, Jones DE, Walker M, Newton JL. Abnormalities of AMPK activation and glucose uptake in cultured skeletal muscle cells from individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome. PLoS One. 2015 Apr 2;10(4):e0122982. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0122982. eCollection 2015. PMID: 25836975
The authors found four main differences in cultured skeletal muscle cells from subjects with CFS; increased myogenin expression in the basal state, impaired activation of AMP kinase, impaired stimulation of glucose uptake and diminished release of IL6.
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Santiago T, Rebelo O, Negrão L, Matos A. Macrophagic myofasciitis and vaccination: Consequence or coincidence? Rheumatol Int. 2014 Jun 13. PMID: 24923906
Macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF) characterized by specific muscle lesions assessing long-term persistence of aluminum hydroxide within macrophages at the site of previous immunization has been reported with increasing frequency in the past 10 years. The authors describe clinical and laboratory findings in patients with MMF. CFS was found in 8 of 16 patients.
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Nijs J, Aelbrecht S, Meeus M, Van Oosterwijck J, Zinzen E, Clarys P. Tired of being inactive: a systematic literature review of physical activity, physiological exercise capacity and muscle strength in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Disabil Rehabil. 2011;33(17-18):1493-500. PMID: 21166613
Patients have less peak isometric muscle strength compared to healthy sedentary control subjects.
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Light AR, Vierck CJ, Light KC. Myalgia and Fatigue: Translation from Mouse Sensory Neurons to Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndromes. In: Translational Pain Research: From Mouse to Man. Kruger L, Light AR, editors. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2010. Chapter 11. PMID: 21882454
The authors suggest that there is a simpler sensation of fatigue that is triggered by inputs from specific receptors that are sensitive to metabolites produced by muscle contraction. They propose that this elementary sensation is transduced, conducted, and perceived within a unique sensory system with properties analogous to other sensory modalities such as pain, and call it the “sensation of muscle fatigue.”
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Pietrangelo T, Toniolo L, Paoli A, Fulle S, Puglielli C, Fanò G, Reggiani C. Functional characterization of muscle fibres from patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: case-control study. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2009 Apr-Jun;22(2):427-36. PMID:19505395
This study supports the view that muscle tissue is directly involved in the pathogenesis of CSF and it might contribute to the early onset of fatigue typical of the skeletal muscles of CFS patients.
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McCully KK, Natelson BH, Iotti S, Sisto S, Leigh JS Jr. Reduced oxidative muscle metabolism in chronic fatigue syndrome. Muscle Nerve. 1996 May;19(5):621-5. PMID: 8618560
Oxidative metabolism is reduced in CFS patients compared to sedentary controls.
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Preedy VR, Smith DG, Salisbury JR, Peters TJ. Biochemical and muscle studies in patients with acute onset post-viral fatigue syndrome. J Clin Pathol. 1993 Aug;46(8):722-6. PMID: 7691895
Patients with acute onset post viral fatigue syndrome lose muscle protein synthetic potential, but not muscle bulk.
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Connolly S, Smith DG, Doyle D, Fowler CJ. Chronic fatigue: electromyographic and neuropathological evaluation. J Neurol. 1993 Jul;240(7):435-8. PMID: 8410086
Muscle fibre density estimation may be a useful way of identifying a subgroup of CFS sufferers with a possible primary muscle disorder.
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Behan WM, More IA, Behan PO. Mitochondrial abnormalities in the postviral fatigue syndrome. Acta Neuropathol. 1991;83(1):61-5. PMID:1792865
Muscle biopsies of patients with postviral fatigue syndrome showed mild to severe atrophy of type II fibres in 39 biopsies, with a mild to moderate excess of lipid. On ultrastructural examination, 35 of these specimens showed branching and fusion of mitochondrial cristae. Mitochondrial degeneration was obvious in 40 of the biopsies with swelling, vacuolation, myelin figures and secondary lysosomes.
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