Responders and nonresponders to topical capsaicin display distinct temporal summation of pain profiles.

Introduction: Topical application of capsaicin can produce an ongoing pain state in healthy participants. However, approximately one-third report no pain response (ie, nonresponders), and the reasons for this are poorly understood.

Objectives: In this study, we investigated temporal summation of pain (TSP) profiles, pain ratings and secondary hyperalgesia responses in responders and nonresponders to 1% topical capsaicin cream.

Methods: Assessments were made at baseline and then during an early (ie, 15 minutes) and late (ie, 45 minutes) time points post-capsaicin in 37 healthy participants.

Results: Participants reporting a visual analogue scale (VAS) rating of >50 were defined as responders (n = 24) and those with <50 VAS rating were defined as nonresponders (n = 13). There was a facilitation of TSP during the transition from an early to the late time point post-capsaicin (P<0.001) and the development of secondary hyperalgesia (P<0.05) in the responder group. Nonresponders showed no changes in TSP or secondary hyperalgesia during the early and late time points. There was an association between baseline TSP scores and the later development of a responder or nonresponder phenotype (r = 0.36; P = 0.03). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that baseline TSP works as a good response predictor at an individual level (area under the curve = 0.75).

Conclusion: These data suggest that responders and nonresponders have different facilitatory pain mechanisms. The assessment of TSP may help to identify participants with stronger endogenous pain facilitation who may be more likely to respond to topical capsaicin.