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. 2025 Jul 25;23:829. doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-06841-4

Table 2 .

Comparison of absolute steroid levels between myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome and control groups

STEROID [CTRL] (mean) [ME/CFS] (mean) [CTRL] (std) [ME/CFS] (std) p value Cohen’s d
Aldosterone (Aldo) 0.357 0.296 0.300 0.209 0.516 -0.236
Androsterone (ADT) 5.957 9.495 4.719 11.691 0.483 0.397
Androstenedione (AED) 0.773 1.072 0.429 1.133 0.509 0.349
Cortisol (F) 138.064 135.157 62.304 61.887 0.718 -0.047
Cortisone (Cot) 26.504 25.189 8.562 11.179 0.415 -0.132
Corticosterone (B) 2.970 3.000 3.202 2.806 0.829 0.01
1-deoxycorticosterone (DOC) 0.324 0.252 0.475 0.386 0.818 -0.166
11-deoxycortisol (11DOC) 0.708 0.509 0.840 0.516 0.591 -0.285
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) 20.713 27.484 26.800 31.127 0.284 0.233
Etiocholanolone (Etn) 2.433 2.322 2.467 2.295 0.992 -0.047
17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.381 0.389 0.207 0.361 0.332 0.027
Pregnanolone (PNL) 1.695 0.644 2.332 1.218 0.095 -0.565
Pregnenolone (P5) 4.131 4.152 8.919 5.265 0.327 0.003
Progesterone (P4) 0.477 1.473 0.193 3.295 0.642 0.427
Testosterone (T) 1.694 1.892 2.193 2.873 0.837 0.077
Estrone (E1)* 82.727 45.340 167.791 39.091 0.876 -0.307
Estradiol (E2)* 30.254 41.060 30.420 67.805 0.445 0.206

Abbreviations: Aldo; aldosterone, ADT; androsterone, AED; androstenedione, F; cortisol, Cot; cortisone, B; corticosterone, DOC; 1-deoxycorticosterone, 11DOC; 11-deoxycortisol, DHEA; dehydroepiandrosterone, Etn; etiocholanolone, 17OHP; 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, PNL; pregnanolone, P5; pregnenolone, P4; progesterone, T; testosterone, E1; estrone, E2; estradiol * ng/mol