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Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Evaluating the Role of Mitochondrial Function in Cancer-related Fatigue
Published on: May 17, 2018
Relative increase in choline in the occipital cortex in chronic fatigue syndrome
B K Puri1, S J Counsell, R Zaman
1MRI Unit, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK. basant.puri@csc.mrc.ac.uk
Objective:
To test the hypothesis that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is associated with altered cerebral metabolites in the frontal and occipital cortices.
Method:
Cerebral proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) was carried out in eight CFS patients and eight age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Spectra were obtained from 20 x 20 x 20 mm3 voxels in the dominant motor and occipital cortices using a point-resolved spectroscopy pulse sequence.
Results:
The mean ratio of choline (Cho) to creatine (Cr) in the occipital cortex in CFS (0.97) was significantly higher than in the controls (0.76; P=0.008). No other metabolite ratios were significantly different between the two groups in either the frontal or occipital cortex. In addition, there was a loss of the normal spatial variation of Cho in CFS.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that there may be an abnormality of phospholipid metabolism in the brain in CFS.
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