Independent: Gut bacteria could help diagnose long Covid and [ME] chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers find

Bacteria in the gut could help diagnose long Covid and chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers have found.

The Independent

Extracts

Research published in the journal Nature Medicine has looked at gut bacteria, immune responses and metabolism to find a way of diagnosing the condition.

The findings, potentially relevant to long Covid due to its similarity with [ME] chronic fatigue syndrome, come from data on 249 individuals analysed using a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform that identifies disease biomarkers from stool, blood, and other routine lab tests.

Our study achieved 90 per cent accuracy in distinguishing individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is significant because doctors currently lack reliable biomarkers for diagnosis

Study author Dr Derya Unutmaz, Professor in immunology at the Jackson Laboratory, US

MEA Comment

These are interesting research findings but it should be noted that a number of research studies have now been carried out and found other abnormalities in the gut microbiome in ME/CFS.

So rather like research into immune system dysfunction in ME/CFS there are clearly abnormalities to be found. But it's not really clear to what extent these changes in the microbiome relate to the actual disease process and which relate to changes in diet, energy metabolism, immune system dysfunction, activity levels, sleep disturbance etc.

So, I don't think we are anywhere near being able to use these results as a diagnostic biomarker for ME/CFS because diagnostic biomarkers not only have to be very sensitive (ie present in almost 100% of cases) – they also have to be very specific and not therefore present in any other conditions with similar symptoms.

Dr Charles Shepherd,
Trustee and Hon. Medical Adviser to the ME Association,
Member of the 2018-2021 NICE guideline on ME/CFS committee,
Member of the 2002 Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on ME/CFS

Further Media Coverage

• Independent: Bacteria in the gut could be the key to diagnosing chronic conditions | July 25, 2025
• Medical Xpress: Previously undetectable biomarkers in gut microbiome may predict ‘invisible' chronic fatigue syndrome, Long Covid | July 25, 2025
• Neuroscience News: Our Gut May Be the Key to Chronic Fatigue, Long Covid | July 25, 2025