PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-15DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003617
Laura Sirucek, Iara De Schoenmacker, Lindsay Mary Gorrell, Robin Lütolf, Anke Langenfeld, Mirjam Baechler, Brigitte Wirth, Michèle Hubli, Niklaus Zölch, Petra Schweinhardt
{"title":"The periaqueductal gray in chronic low back pain: dysregulated neurotransmitters and function.","authors":"Laura Sirucek, Iara De Schoenmacker, Lindsay Mary Gorrell, Robin Lütolf, Anke Langenfeld, Mirjam Baechler, Brigitte Wirth, Michèle Hubli, Niklaus Zölch, Petra Schweinhardt","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003617","DOIUrl":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003617","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Mechanisms underlying chronic pain are insufficiently understood, hampering effective treatment approaches. Preclinical evidence suggests a potential contribution of decreased excitatory (glutamatergic) and increased inhibitory (γ-aminobutyric acid [GABA]ergic) neurotransmission in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a key descending pain modulatory brainstem area. This magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) study investigated (1) whether a lower excitatory/inhibitory balance is also observed in the PAG of patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP) and (2) whether the excitatory/inhibitory balance relates to psychophysical measures of descending pain modulation and pain sensitivity. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was acquired on a 3T MR system in 41 patients with CLBP and 29 age- and sex-matched controls. Descending pain modulation and pain sensitivity were evaluated using conditioned pain modulation and pressure pain stimuli, respectively, which were both assessed at the lower back as the most painful area and the nondominant hand as a pain-free, remote area. Patients with CLBP presented with a lower glutamate + glutamine (Glx)/GABA ratio compared with controls ( P = 0.002), driven by both decreased Glx ( P = 0.012) and increased GABA ( P = 0.038). Controls with lower Glx/GABA were more sensitive to pressure pain in both areas, but this association was missing in the patients (lower back: P = 0.004; hand: P = 0.002). Patients with more severe clinical pain showed impaired descending pain modulation at the hand ( P = 0.003). In line with preclinical evidence, these findings support a dysregulated PAG in patients with CLBP that might be associated with dysfunctional descending pain inhibition.</p>","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":" ","pages":"1690-1705"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12168810/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144079320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-15DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003623
Peter D Drummond,Mariana Rossen-Abercromby,Annie Quartermaine,Di Ye,Marco Barbero,Philip M Finch
{"title":"Spatial distribution of pain in complex regional pain syndrome.","authors":"Peter D Drummond,Mariana Rossen-Abercromby,Annie Quartermaine,Di Ye,Marco Barbero,Philip M Finch","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003623","url":null,"abstract":"Pain often spreads away from the injured site in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), but what drives this process is unclear. To explore this, pain drawings were investigated in 136 patients in relation to the type and location of injury, pain intensity and quality, CRPS duration, subtypes, and hyperalgesia to thermal and mechanical stimuli. Areas of pain were quantified using the ImageJ polygon selection tool. The pain area in the affected limb increased in line with pain intensity and with indices of hyperalgesia in the affected limb and ipsilateral forehead (P's < 0.01). The pain area was greater in patients with proximal than distal limb injury, CRPS I than II, longstanding than acute CRPS, the warm than symmetrical or cold subtypes, and in patients who experienced burning pain and/or pins-and-needles (P's < 0.05). Together, these predictors accounted for 30.4% of variance in pain area in the affected limb (P < 0.001). Thirty-five patients were reassessed after 5 to 124 months. After an invasive treatment such as an electrical stimulator implant or sympathetic blockade (N = 20), the pain area decreased in the affected limb of 11 patients but increased in 9 others. The pain area increased during follow-up in most other patients, and pain developed spontaneously in a previously unaffected limb in a minority of cases-specifically, in those with a greater area of pain and stronger hyperalgesia in the affected limb at baseline. Together, the findings suggest that peripheral and/or central nociceptor sensitization is associated with pain expansion in CRPS.","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143992035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-15DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003658
Gillian J Bedwell, Luyanduthando Mqadi, Peter Kamerman, Mark R Hutchinson, Romy Parker, Victoria J Madden
{"title":"Inflammatory reactivity is unrelated to childhood adversity or provoked modulation of nociception.","authors":"Gillian J Bedwell, Luyanduthando Mqadi, Peter Kamerman, Mark R Hutchinson, Romy Parker, Victoria J Madden","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003658","DOIUrl":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003658","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Adversity in childhood elevates the risk of persistent pain in adulthood. Neuroimmune interactions are a candidate mechanistic link between childhood adversity and persistent pain. We aimed to clarify whether immune reactivity is associated with provoked differences in nociceptive processing in adults with a range of childhood adversity. Pain-free adults (n = 96; 61 female; median [range] age: 23 [18-65] years old) with a history of mild to severe childhood adversity underwent psychophysical assessments before and after in vivo neural provocation (high-frequency electrical stimulation) and, separately, before and after in vivo immune provocation (influenza vaccine administration). Psychophysical assessments included the surface area of secondary hyperalgesia after neural provocation and change in conditioned pain modulation (test stimulus: pressure pain threshold; conditioning stimulus: cold water immersion) after immune provocation. Immune reactivity was operationalised as interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-α expression after in vitro lipopolysaccharide provocation of whole blood. We hypothesised associations between immune reactivity and (1) childhood adversity, (2) induced secondary hyperalgesia, and (3) vaccine-associated change in conditioned pain modulation. We found that provoked expression of proinflammatory cytokines was not statistically associated with childhood adversity, induced secondary hyperalgesia, or vaccine-associated change in conditioned pain modulation. The current findings from a heterogenous sample cast doubt on 2 prominent ideas: that childhood adversity primes the inflammatory system for hyper-responsiveness in adulthood and that nociceptive reactivity is linked to inflammatory reactivity. This calls for the broader inclusion of heterogeneous samples in fundamental research to investigate the psychoneuroimmunological mechanisms underlying vulnerability to persistent pain.</p>","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144079296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-14DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003596
Philipp Niklas Ostermann,Victoria J Madden,Harriet I Kemp,Daniel Ciampi de Andrade
{"title":"Relevance of chronic pain related to infection for the ICD-11.","authors":"Philipp Niklas Ostermann,Victoria J Madden,Harriet I Kemp,Daniel Ciampi de Andrade","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003596","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003596","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144087751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-14DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003644
Rolf-Detlef Treede
{"title":"How to classify patients suffering from chronic pain associated with infectious diseases.","authors":"Rolf-Detlef Treede","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003644","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144087768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003651
Ian Gilron,Hala Elkerdawy,Dongsheng Tu,Ronald R Holden,Dwight E Moulin,Scott Duggan,Roumen Milev
{"title":"Melatonin for neuropathic pain: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover trial.","authors":"Ian Gilron,Hala Elkerdawy,Dongsheng Tu,Ronald R Holden,Dwight E Moulin,Scott Duggan,Roumen Milev","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003651","url":null,"abstract":"Neuropathic pain (NP) is a common challenging problem, and there is a growing need to develop safe and effective nonopioid treatments. Sleep disturbance is commonly associated with NP because pain intensity of NP conditions is often worse at night. Some evidence suggests that the pineal hormone, melatonin, may reduce pain in clinical settings. We conducted a clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of melatonin for NP. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 31 adults with NP were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 sequences of treatment with melatonin and placebo. During each of 2 treatment periods, participants took capsules containing melatonin or placebo for 4 weeks, followed by a 7-day washout period. The primary outcome was mean daily pain intensity (0-10) at maximally tolerated doses (MTD) during each period. Secondary outcomes, assessed at MTD, included adverse events, and measures of sleep, mood, and quality of life. Thirty-one participants were recruited, and 30 participants completed both treatment periods of the trial. The mean maximal tolerated dose of melatonin in this trial was 11.9 mg/day. Treatment-emergent adverse events with melatonin were infrequent and not statistically different from placebo. At MTD, mean daily pain (standard error) was 4.1 (0.3) for melatonin and 4.2 (0.3) for placebo (P = 0.8). There were no statistically significant differences between placebo and melatonin for any secondary outcomes. Overall, the results of this trial do not provide any evidence to suggest promise for melatonin as an effective treatment for NP.","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143945508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mortality among patients with long-term prescription opioid use in Norway: a nationwide registry-based cohort study.","authors":"Gabriela Rolová,Anders Engeland,Line Pedersen,Ingvild Odsbu,Aleksi Hamina,Svetlana Skurtveit","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003653","url":null,"abstract":"The aim was to estimate all-cause and cause-specific mortality in long-term prescription opioid users compared to the general population. This nationwide registry-based cohort study used data of patients aged 15 to 69 years with no previous cancer diagnosis and a recorded episode of long-term opioid analgesics use (anatomical therapeutic chemical [ATC] group N02A; N = 116,006) in Norway between 2011 and 2019. Sex-specific crude mortality rates (CMR) and age-standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, ie, natural and unnatural causes for the whole study population and for different age groups (15-34, 35-54, and 55-69 years). Overall, 4.6% (2491/54,535) of men and 2.7% (1680/61,471) of women died during the follow-up period. Crude mortality rates for all-cause mortality were 1194 and 724 deaths per 100,000 person-years (PY) in men and women, respectively. Men had higher CMRs across all causes, particularly unnatural causes (221 and 101 deaths per 100,000 PY in men and women, respectively). Patients with long-term opioid use had a 4 times higher all-cause mortality (SMR = 3.8 [95% CI = 3.6-3.9] in men and 3.7 [3.5-3.9] in women aged 15-69 years) compared to the general Norwegian population of the same age. Excess mortality was observed across all causes, particularly suicide, accidents, and accidental poisoning. Standardized mortality ratios decreased with age and were highest for the youngest age group (15-34 years), particularly among men. Long-term prescription opioid use is associated with an increased risk of death. Clinicians should weigh the risks of long-term opioid use against the benefits.","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143992040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003640
Jiaojing Xu,Linda M G Vancleef,Erik Bongaerts,Dimitri M L Van Ryckeghem
{"title":"The association between pain-related cognitive biases and their impact upon task interference by anticipating pain: a virtual reality approach.","authors":"Jiaojing Xu,Linda M G Vancleef,Erik Bongaerts,Dimitri M L Van Ryckeghem","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003640","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003640","url":null,"abstract":"Contemporary pain theories postulate that pain-related attention bias (AB) and interpretation bias (IB) uniquely and synergistically impact upon poor pain outcomes. As yet, available research findings are scarce and mixed. The current study aimed to investigate the association between pain-related AB and IB and their impact upon task interference by impending pain. A total of 85 healthy participants performed a newly developed virtual reality (VR) paradigm allowing to simultaneously assess AB, IB, and pain-related task interference (ie, because of the presence of pain-related information) within a dynamic pain context. Particularly, participants learned to distinguish pain (CS+) from nonpain (CS-) cues, as represented by balls of varying blue shades. In a following test phase, participants completed a 2-back task while 1 of the 3 cue types (balls) was floating around in the VR environment: pain cues (CS+; light blue shades), ambiguous pain cues (CSA; mid blue shades), or nonpain cues (CS-; dark blue shades). During the entire paradigm, cue-related eye gaze (AB), pupillometry data and pain threat ratings (IB), as well as 2-back task performance (task interference) were recorded. Results indicated the presence of AB and IB for (ambiguous) pain cues. Furthermore, task interference (longer response latency) by pain-related information was observed in the presence of pain cues. In addition, results revealed a positive association between IB and AB toward identical ambiguous pain cues. Furthermore, AB and IB were found to uniquely, but not synergistically, impact upon task interference. Future validation studies replicating current findings while manipulating context features and goal pursuit are warranted.","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"129 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143992038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neuropathic pain in diabetic polyneuropathy: a 5-year prospective study.","authors":"Peter Kolind Brask-Thomsen,Mustapha Itani,Páll Karlsson,Alexander Gramm Kristensen,Thomas Krøigård,Troels Staehelin Jensen,Hatice Tankisi,Søren Hein Sindrup,Nanna Brix Finnerup,Sandra Sif Gylfadottir","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003649","url":null,"abstract":"There are few prospective studies on neuropathic pain in diabetic polyneuropathy (P-DPN). We aimed to examine the development of P-DPN over time as well as factors associated with both the development of and relief from pain. In this 5-year follow-up study, we included 102 patients with at least probable DPN at baseline, according to the Toronto consensus criteria, recruited from a nationwide Danish cohort of 5514 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes between 2016 and 2018. All participants underwent detailed phenotyping of both DPN and pain, consisting of a bedside sensory examination, quantitative sensory testing (QST), skin biopsies, and nerve conduction studies at baseline and follow-up. The estimated prevalence (95% CI) of at least probable P-DPN increased from 11.5% (8.2; 14.9) at baseline to 14.8% (9.2; 20.4) at follow-up, with a median (interquartile range) diabetes duration of 11.0 (9.2, 12.2) years. Among 64 patients with baseline nonpainful DPN, 38.2% developed pain at follow-up, while 28.9% of 38 patients with baseline P-DPN did not have pain at follow-up. A higher proportion of patients with baseline dysesthesia developed pain (42.9%), compared with patients without dysesthesia (27.9%, Χ2-test for trend: P < 0.0001). Development of pain was associated with female sex, lower baseline sensitivity to warm stimuli on QST, and lower baseline sural sensory nerve action potential amplitudes. Relief from pain was associated with lower baseline body mass index and cholesterol, as well as higher sensitivity to cold, mechanical, and vibratory stimuli on QST at baseline. This detailed study identified risk factors for neuropathic pain development and cessation.","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143945507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PAIN®Pub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003606
Lindsay Lueptow,Leeza Shashkova,Emma Twombly,Hugo Greenhill,Hongyan Yang,Anna M W Taylor,Courtney M Cameron,Christopher J Evans,Anne M Andrews,Catherine M Cahill
{"title":"Chronic pain selectively reduces the motivation to work for remifentanil but not food reward.","authors":"Lindsay Lueptow,Leeza Shashkova,Emma Twombly,Hugo Greenhill,Hongyan Yang,Anna M W Taylor,Courtney M Cameron,Christopher J Evans,Anne M Andrews,Catherine M Cahill","doi":"10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003606","url":null,"abstract":"Currently, preclinical research has reported conflicting evidence as to whether chronic pain imparts resilience or vulnerability to opioid drug seeking. Here, we investigated the impact of chronic pain on the intravenous self-administration (IVSA) profile of the short-acting opioid analgesic remifentanil in a mouse model. Using a chronic constriction injury model of chronic neuropathic pain, 7 days after injury, male and female C57Bl/6J mice began remifentanil IVSA. During the acquisition phase, there were no differences in the total number of reinforcers earned but an increase in the number of active nose pokes in pain mice. An increase in the rate of acquisition within sessions was observed in male but not female mice. When work effort increased (fixed ratio 3 and progressive ratio), pain mice unexpectedly showed a reduction in the number of reinforcers earned and their breakpoint. This change in motivational state was specific to the willingness to work for remifentanil, as these changes were not observed with higher effort for a food reward. We hypothesized that chronic pain altered the dopaminergic state of the striatum, which would impact the motivation to work for a reward. We found that pain mice had significantly decreased phasic dopamine release assessed via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and reduced potassium-evoked extracellular dopamine measured by microdialysis. Future studies will investigate the causal relationship between this hypo-dopaminergic state and decreased behavioral motivation associated with a chronic pain state.","PeriodicalId":19921,"journal":{"name":"PAIN®","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143992036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}