European Journal of Pain最新文献

{"title":"Sex Differences in the Effects of Early Life Stressors in a Rat Model of Myofascial Low Back Pain","authors":"Deepika Singhal, Lin Li, Wolfgang Greffrath, Rolf-Detlef Treede","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70114","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Chronic primary low back pain (cpLBP) is prevalent worldwide. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of cpLBP. Here, we explored ACEs as a predisposing factor for adult cpLBP using a rodent model.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>During adolescence, male and female Wistar rats underwent repeated restraint stress (RS) for one hour daily for 12 days or social isolation (SI) for 29 days; controls were handled daily. In adulthood, acute cpLBP was mimicked by NGF or saline injections into the lumbar multifidus muscle. Deep muscular hypersensitivity was assessed using the pressure pain threshold (PPT) of multifidus (MF) and gastrocnemius muscles (GS). Cutaneous mechanical hypersensitivity was measured with paw withdrawal threshold (PWT).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>SI had smaller effects than RS in adolescence (<i>d</i> = −0.87 vs. −1.20) and adulthood (<i>d</i> = −0.33 vs. −0.48). RS and SI had a moderate impact in adolescent females (Cohen's <i>d</i> = −0.69), while males experienced a strong sensitisation (<i>d</i> = −1.42), with persistence into adulthood only in males (<i>d</i> = −0.52). Sensitivity to change was lower for PPT of GS (<i>d</i> = −0.71) than PPT of MF (<i>d</i> = −1.09) or PWT (<i>d</i> = −1.17). PPT of the injected MF dropped in stressed females both to saline (<i>d</i> = −0.447) and NGF (<i>d</i> = −0.568) but not in males. Both early life stress models induced immediate muscular and cutaneous hypersensitivity that recovered partly in adulthood.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Males were more susceptible to manifest sensitisation by stress than females, whereas females exhibited a memory trace (latent sensitisation), causing hyperalgesia upon the second hit in adulthood. The differential stress sensitivity may contribute to the higher prevalence of cpLBP in females.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Chronic primary low back pain (cpLBP) is prevalent worldwide, particularly in women. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk of cpLBP. Using a rat model of cpLBP and two early life stressors, we report that male rats were more susceptible to manifest sensitisation by stress, whereas female rats exhibited a memory trace, causing behavioural signs of hyperalgesia upon the second hit in adulthood (noxious muscle stimulation). The differential stress sensitivity may contribute to the higher preval","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ejp.70114","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144915154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Personalised Breakthrough Pain Goals and Responses in Advanced Cancer Patients","authors":"Sebastiano Mercadante,&nbsp;Alesssandra Casuccio,&nbsp;Guglielmo Noce,&nbsp;Claudio Adile","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70103","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' global impression (PGI), patient pain goal (PPG), achievement of a patient pain goal response (PPGR) among individuals with advanced cancer admitted to an acute palliative care unit (APCU), after a BTP medication.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Longitudinal design was employed to assess 230 patients. Changes in BTP, PGI, PPG and PPGR were measured.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>BTP intensity (mean, SD) before administration of a BTP medication (T0), 15 min after (T15) and 30 min after (T30) was 6.5 (1.63), 4.3 (1.5) and 2.3 (1.5), respectively. The mean PPG was 1.61 (SD 1.6). Almost all patients reported an improvement in PGI. There were no differences between the different opioids used as BTP medication, and PGGR and PGI (<i>p</i> = 0.728 and <i>p</i> = 0.442, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, higher pain intensity at T0 and lower pain intensity at T30 were independently related to PGI (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.0005). The number of patients who achieved their goals increased at T30 (46.1%); 90.8% of patients reported an improvement in PGI; PPGR was correlated with PPG both at T15 and T30 (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.0005) and was inversely correlated with pain intensity at T15′ (<i>p</i> = 0.001) and T30′ (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.0005).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>PPG enables clinicians to individualise patient care and facilitates the assessment of pain response within the same patient over time, ensuring that the evaluation is both clinically relevant and meaningful. Together, the PPG, PGI and PPGR serve as important patient-centred metrics which support pain assessment and inform clinical decision-making in alignment with patients' expectations.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Patient expectations, expressed as pain goals, are hard to be achieved. Nevertheless, global impression after a breakthrough medication is good, regardless the opioid used.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144894305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effectiveness of Movement Representation Strategies in Knee Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses on Knee Pain and Function","authors":"Julie Flebus,&nbsp;Javier Martín Núñez,&nbsp;María Granados Santiago,&nbsp;Alejandro Heredia Ciuró,&nbsp;Andrés Calvache Mateo,&nbsp;Alba Navas Otero,&nbsp;Marie Carmen Valenza","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70100","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Introduction</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>A highly prevalent condition, knee pain often results in significant functional limitations and a reduced quality of life. Due to its multifactorial causes and diverse pathologies, numerous therapeutic approaches have been proposed, each with varying degrees of success. Among these, movement representation strategies have emerged as promising interventions. These techniques engage the central nervous system by using mental simulation of motor actions—such as motor imagery and action observation—without the need for actual physical movement, often focusing on imagining or observing pain-free, unrestricted motion.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Because the effectiveness of movement representation strategies in knee pain remains uncertain and no prior synthesis of randomised evidence exists, a systematic review of the literature was conducted for randomised controlled trials indexed from three databases inception to March 2025. Two reviewers performed independent data extraction and methodologic quality assessment of the studies.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Eleven studies were included in this review. The results of pain and function outcomes showed significant improvements after interventions based on movement representation techniques. The meta-analyses showed that these techniques have a significant effect on pain and function.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion and Conclusion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results of our review demonstrated notable results from the implementation of movement representation techniques to standard physical therapy aimed at decreasing pain and increasing function in patients with knee pain. The meta-analyses revealed a significant positive effect of these interventions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Movement representation strategies combined with physical therapy have a significant effect on function and pain in patients with knee pain. The most commonly used strategies were motor imagery training and action observation training. The meta-analyses revealed a significant positive effect of these interventions, showing improvements in both pain and function in patient with knee pain.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ejp.70100","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144894161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of a Computerised Adaptive Testing and Equalisation Approaches to Assess Sleep and Quality of Life in Chronic Pain","authors":"Suzana Curcino Nogueira,&nbsp;Ana Mércia Fernandes,&nbsp;Rafael Lussani,&nbsp;Valquiria Aparecida da Silva,&nbsp;Ricardo Galhardoni,&nbsp;Julio Barbour,&nbsp;Rogério Pessoto Hirata,&nbsp;Gabriel Taricani Kubota,&nbsp;Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira,&nbsp;Daniel Ciampi de Andrade","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70108","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Background&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Computerised adaptive testing (CAT) and equalisation are statistical approaches that mitigate questionnaire response burden by selecting individually tailored items according to previous response patterns; they facilitate comparing results across distinct instruments by providing conversion functions between their scores, respectively. However, they have seldom been specifically applied to the general chronic pain population. This study aimed at developing CAT and equalisation approaches for widely used sleep quality and quality of life (QoL) assessment instruments.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Methods&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;This prospective cross-sectional study included adult participants with chronic pain treated at specialised tertiary-care clinics. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were used for investigating sleep quality construct; and the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, WHOQoL-BREF and 5 dimensions 3 levels EuroQol for QoL. CATs were developed for these two constructs based on graded model item response theory. Equalisation utilised equipercentile methodology.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Results&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;Three-hundred participants (54.4 ± 13.8 years-old, female = 54.7%) with different chronic pain diagnoses, 77.3% of whom were neuropathic, were enrolled. CATs were developed for both constructs, with adequate model fit. A 5000-response simulation demonstrated average reductions of 80.6% and 76.8% in items required to be answered for evaluating sleep quality and QoL, respectively, when compared to the total original questionnaire items. Equalisation functions were described for score conversions between WHOQoL-BREF and 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and between PSQI and ISI.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Conclusions&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;This initial study demonstrated the feasibility of CATs for assessing sleep quality and QoL in chronic pain populations; and provided equalisation functions between instruments widely used for these purposes. Future replication and validation are necessary to establish the generalisability of these findings.&lt;/p&gt;\u0000 &lt;/section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;section&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;h3&gt; Significance&lt;/h3&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;p&gt;The high response burden inherent to the use of multiple validated instruments to assess quality of life (QoL) and of sleep undermines their systematic application in the assessment of chronic pain, both in daily practice and research settings. To address this gap, this initial study demonstrated the","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ejp.70108","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144888424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating the Influence of Experimentally Induced Secondary Hyperalgesia on Pain Prediction Error Encoding in Healthy Individuals: A Novel Virtual Reality Protocol","authors":"Federico Palmisani,&nbsp;Jawahar Sri Prakash Thiyagarajan,&nbsp;Joe Horsey,&nbsp;Sam W. Hughes,&nbsp;Sonia Medina","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70113","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Persistent mismatches between predicted and actual pain-related signals, namely prediction errors (PEs), can cause maladaptive overestimation of pain intensity, a common feature of chronic pain states. Experimental protocols used to assess the contribution of central sensitisation (CS) to dysregulated prediction systems are lacking. To address this, we implemented a novel virtual reality (VR) paradigm to evoke PEs during mechanical stimulation following experimentally induced CS via the high-frequency stimulation (HFS) model.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Twenty healthy volunteers underwent HFS on the right forearm. Mechanical pain sensitivity (MPS) was assessed through pinprick stimuli before and 30 min post-HFS to evaluate secondary hyperalgesia. Following this, participants received mechanical stimuli at proximal (sensitised area) and distal (non-sensitised area) points from the HFS site, with visual cues presented on their arm via VR alongside hand tracking technology indicating the stimulus location, allowing participants to make pain predictions. Cues were either congruent (matching) or incongruent (mismatching) with the actual stimulus site to evoke PEs.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Results showed that MPS significantly increased following HFS, confirming secondary hyperalgesia. Stimuli in sensitised areas induced more pain than in non-sensitised areas. Incongruent cues successfully elicited PEs across all locations; however, expectations modulated pain perception only in non-sensitised areas. Similarly, during incongruent trials, PEs diminished over time (reflecting adaptive learning) only in non-sensitised areas.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>These data demonstrate that pain expectations can influence pain perception differently in centrally sensitised and non-sensitised states. We propose this protocol as a good candidate to assess how cognitive and psychological manipulations influence PEs at various stages of CS.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We introduce a novel VR paradigm to show that secondary hyperalgesia alters how pain expectations and prediction errors influence pain perception, highlighting distinct adaptive learning patterns.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ejp.70113","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144888437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating AI and Machine Learning Into Pain Research and Therapy","authors":"Jörn Lötsch","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70111","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Artificial intelligence (AI), along with its core technology, machine learning (ML), has become deeply integrated in almost every area of science and aspect of everyday life. Consequently, this development has reached pain research and therapy as well. Over the past two decades, AI and ML methods have become more widespread in pain-related studies, though there were initial challenges in publishing such work in pain-focused journals. A decade ago, pain journals were sometimes reluctant to accept papers that used machine learning as the main approach to data analysis, considering it a topic more appropriate for computer science or bioinformatics journals. However, this scenario has undergone a significant transformation, and machine learning has become an integral part of the methodological arsenal used in pain research (Lotsch and Ultsch &lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;; Lötsch et al. &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Reflecting this broader trend, the European Journal of Pain has witnessed a gradual increase in publications applying AI and machine learning to pain research and therapy (Figure 1). According to a PubMed search for the string ((“machine-learning”) OR (“machinelearning”) OR (“machinelearned”) OR (“machine learning”) OR (machine-learned) OR (“machine learned”) OR (“artificial intelligence”) OR (“explainable AI”) OR (“explainable artificial”) OR (XAI) OR (“knowledge discovery”) OR (“deep learning”) OR (“supervised learning”) OR (“unsupervised learning”) OR (“random forest”) OR (“support vector”) OR (“SHAP”) OR (“SHapley Additive exPlanations”) OR (“LIME”) OR (“Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations”)) AND (“Eur J Pain”[Journal]), 16 such articles, after manual curating the hits, have now been published in the journal. This accumulation of studies justifies assembling them into a virtual issue. This dedicated collection will provide readers interested in machine learning with easier access to relevant work published in the EJP and serve as a convenient resource for exploring this rapidly developing field within pain research.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Machine learning encompasses various methodological approaches that can be roughly categorised as supervised, unsupervised, or reinforcement learning. Supervised learning involves training algorithms to map input data (features) to predefined output labels (MacQueen &lt;span&gt;1967&lt;/span&gt;). It is often used for diagnostic classification tasks, where known cases (e.g., patients versus healthy individuals) are used for training and subsequent prediction. Of note, most supervised algorithms can be used for both, classification and regression. By contrast, unsupervised learning is designed to discover hidden structures or patterns within data without prior labeling (Steinhaus &lt;span&gt;1956&lt;/span&gt;). It employs techniques such as clustering or dimensionality reduction to explore complex datasets. Reinforcement learning is a third major paradigm in which algorithms learn optimal actions through interactions with an environment. They ","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ejp.70111","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trauma Exposure: An Overlooked Risk Factor in Prescription Opioid Use Disorder Among Chronic Pain Patients","authors":"Pengwei Lai,&nbsp;Xiaohong Du","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70107","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Social Isolation Induces Sex-Differentiated Sensory-Emotional Pain Responses and Oxytocinergic Receptors Alterations in Mice","authors":"Ana Claudia Braga-Dias,&nbsp;Silvia Jimena Cardenas Otero,&nbsp;Melissa Késsia Cavalcante Oliveira,&nbsp;Lucas Canto-de-Souza,&nbsp;Carlos C. Crestani,&nbsp;Azair Canto-de-Souza,&nbsp;Daniela Baptista-de-Souza,&nbsp;Ricardo Luiz Nunes-de-Souza","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70106","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Chronic pain is a global health problem frequently associated with psychopathologies such as anxiety and depression, with a higher prevalence in women. However, most of the preclinical studies have used male animals as experimental subjects, highlighting the importance of studies that consider sex as a biological factor modulating the responses related to chronic pain. The experience of high social stress can maintain and exacerbate chronic pain. From a neural perspective, oxytocin plays a critical role in modulating behavioural and neurobiological responses related to stress and pain.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the sensory and emotional effects of social isolation in male and female mice subjected to chronic constriction injury (CCI). Additionally, it aims to investigate the role of oxytocinergic neurotransmission in chronic pain across different sexes.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results demonstrated that both sciatic nerve constriction (CCI) and social isolation independently induced mechanical hypersensitivity and increased anxiety- and depression-like responses in both male and female mice. Despite no synergistic interaction, social isolation independently triggered sensory and emotional changes comparable to those induced by CCI. However, only females exhibited an increase in facial pain expressions and a worsening of pelage condition when housed individually. Moreover, females, but not males, had a decreased expression of oxytocin receptors in the hypothalamic paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei under social isolation.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>These findings indicate that social isolation can induce sexually dimorphic behavioural and neurophysiological responses in mice.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article shows that social isolation enhances pain perception and oxytocinergic neurotransmission, especially in female mice. This understanding of how pain affects different sexes may contribute to developing a sex-specific new therapeutic target to assist individuals living with pain.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Effectiveness of School-Based Interventions on Pain and Disability Outcomes in Adolescents With Persistent Pain. A Systematic Review","authors":"Henriette Jahre,&nbsp;Maren Hjelle Guddal,&nbsp;Erik Grasaas,&nbsp;Kaja Smedbråten,&nbsp;Kirsti Riiser,&nbsp;Are Hugo Pripp,&nbsp;Margreth Grotle,&nbsp;Britt Elin Øiestad","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70101","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Background and Objective</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Persistent pain is common among adolescents, with significant consequences. School-based interventions have the potential to reach most adolescents, but there is a lack of systematic reviews addressing school-based pain interventions. This systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of school-based interventions for reducing persistent pain and disability in adolescents compared to control interventions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Databases and Data Treatment</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The PRISMA guidelines were followed (CRD42023477721). Searches in Medline, EMBASE, PEDro, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane, AMED, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar identified 6651 studies. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled trials (CTs) of interventions conducted at schools involving adolescents aged 10–19 years with persistent pain lasting ≥ 3 months. Risk of bias was measured using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool for RCTs and ROBINS-I for CTs. Results were synthesised narratively.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria (<i>n</i> = 12 RCTs, <i>n</i> = 3 CTs, <i>n</i> = 1 pilot RCT) including 2873 participants. The identified interventions were relaxation, education, exercise, taping, and tailored pain management. Relaxation reduced headache activity in four out of five studies; exercise was effective for back and menstrual pain; education showed conflicting results; and person-centred care was not better than usual school health care for reducing pain. All included studies had a high risk of bias.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Relaxation and exercise showed promising effectiveness on reducing persistent pain in adolescents, although with a high risk of bias. The need for higher-quality studies remains imperative to strengthen the evidence base and inform future interventions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This systematic review highlights the potential of school-based interventions, particularly relaxation and exercise, in reducing persistent pain among adolescents, although in studies with a high risk of bias. These findings underscore the need for higher-quality studies to establish robust evidence and inform effective, equitable pain management strategies in school settings.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Somatosensory Profile of Central Post Stroke Pain of Thalamic Origin: Findings of a Quantitative Sensory Testing Study","authors":"Kristel Berati,&nbsp;Lukas Enz,&nbsp;Priska Zuber,&nbsp;Katarina Alexandra Ebner,&nbsp;Shaumiya Sellathurai,&nbsp;Kean Schoenholzer,&nbsp;Federico Burguet Villena,&nbsp;Laura Gaetano,&nbsp;Ludwig Kappos,&nbsp;Stefano Magon,&nbsp;Till Sprenger,&nbsp;Athina Papadopoulou","doi":"10.1002/ejp.70104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70104","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Introduction</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Central post stroke pain (CPSP) is attributed to vascular lesions of the central somatosensory system, including the thalamus.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objective</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>A better characterisation of clinical findings in patients with CPSP after thalamic stroke can facilitate research and treatment of this refractory pain syndrome. We aimed to quantify somatosensory abnormalities in CPSP patients after thalamic stroke.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Sixteen patients with CPSP after thalamic stroke, 14 patients with a history of thalamic stroke without any pain (stroke control patients, SCP) and 12 healthy controls (HC) underwent detailed clinical examination, standardised quantitative sensory testing (QST) and a pain questionnaire. QST results were compared to age and sex adjusted reference data to obtain <i>z</i>-scores. Group comparisons were performed with one-way analysis of variance.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Temperature perception did not differ in CPSP patients, apart from thermal sensory limen (higher in CPSP vs. HC but no difference vs. SCP). Patients with CPSP showed higher mechanical detection thresholds compared to SCP (Δ = 1.26, <i>p</i> = 0.017, no difference vs. HC) and they were more sensitive to mechanical pain than SCP (lower mechanical pain thresholds vs. SCP: Δ = −1.32, <i>p</i> = 0.014, no difference vs. HC).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Our results indicate somatosensory abnormalities in patients with CPSP after thalamic stroke, associated with the perception of mechanical stimuli. A short somatosensory screening including mechanical perception may contribute to an accurate diagnosis of this debilitating condition.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Significance Statement</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Thalamic CPSP is very rare, thus our data contribute to the clinical and sensory phenotyping of patients suffering from this debilitating condition. We did not find abnormalities in <i>thermal</i> measures, but only <i>mechanical</i> thresholds in our cohort, suggesting that not only changes in temperature perception are necessary for the development of pain after thalamic stroke. Our findings suggest that a short QST protocol including <i>mechanical</i> testing using von Frey filaments and pin-prick-stimulators may be useful in the diagnosis of thalamic CP","PeriodicalId":12021,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pain","volume":"29 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ejp.70104","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}