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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. NK and Innate Lymphoid Cell Biology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1440643
This article is part of the Research Topic Shedding Light on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) View all articles

Meta-analysis of Natural Killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Provisionally accepted
James N. Baraniuk James N. Baraniuk 1*Natalie Eaton-Fitch Natalie Eaton-Fitch 2Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik 2
  • 1 Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington D.C., United States
  • 2 Griffith Health, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Reduced Natural Killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity is the most consistent immune finding in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Meta-analysis of the published literature determined the effect size of the decrement in ME/CFS. Databases were screened for papers comparing NK cell cytotoxicity in ME/CFS and healthy controls. Twenty-eight papers and 55 effector : target cell ratio (E:T) data points were collected. Cytotoxicity in ME/CFS was significantly reduced to about half of healthy control levels, with an overall Hedges' g of 0.96 [0.75 to 1.18]. Heterogeneity was high but was explained by the range of E:T ratios, different methods and potential outliers. The outcomes confirm reproducible NK cell dysfunction in ME/CFS and will guide studies using the NK cell model system for pathomechanistic investigations.

    Keywords: Meta-analysis, Natural Killer cells, Cytotoxicity, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ME/CFS

    Received: 29 May 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Baraniuk, Eaton-Fitch and Marshall-Gradisnik. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: James N. Baraniuk, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington D.C., United States

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