Researchers identify shared biological link for chronic exhaustion

Researchers have identified a shared biological process that may explain chronic exhaustion across five distinct conditions: long Covid, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

The study, published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, suggests that while these illnesses are triggered by different factors—such as viral infections, psychological trauma, or autoimmune responses—they converge on the same major biological systems. These include immune and inflammatory signaling, mitochondrial energy production, metabolic regulation, stress-response mechanisms, and neuroendocrine signaling.

Led by the University of East Anglia and Oxford BioDynamics Plc, the team used the EpiSwitch Orion platform to analyze the three-dimensional architecture of the genome. While the researchers found little direct overlap between individual genes across the conditions, they discovered strong similarities when examining how genes interact within biological networks. Lead researcher Dmitry Pshezhetskiy noted that when these regulatory networks become persistently dysregulated, it may result in the profound, disabling fatigue observed across these various disorders.