Molecular Research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been emerging as a significant health issue worldwide. CFS is a debilitating disease characterized by chronic fatigue > 6 months and post exertion malaise (PEM), unrefreshing sleep, cognitive impairment, and/or high susceptibility to pain. This illness impairs health-related quality of life seriously, thus approximately half of CFS patients are unemployed. The etiology of CFS however is still uncertain, and no established pathophysiology, objective diagnosis and therapeutics exist yet.

To date, many findings have proposed several biological etiologies of CFS, such as viral infection, autoimmune dysregulation, abnormal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis response, immune impairment related to abnormal cytokine production including TGF-β. Most recently, microglial activation and neuro-inflammation are observed in the brains of CFS patients. In addition, there were promising strategies for objective diagnosis tools likely cardiopulmonary exercise tests as well as positive outcomes in therapeutic developments including cognitive behavioral therapy and some remedies.   

This Special Issue focuses on molecular mechanisms improving our understanding on CFS-related issues: potential etiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic tool and therapeutics. This Issue includes original articles, but other types of manuscripts are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Chang Gue Son
Prof. Dr. Jin Seok Lee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.