Pain
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Case Reports
Neuropathic pain in two-generation twins carrying the sodium channel Nav1.7 functional variant R1150W.
We present clinical, neuropathological, and molecular genetic findings of a family with a new pain phenotype of the sodium channel gene SCN9A polymorphism R1150W. A 46-year-old woman presented with a 5-year history of episodic temperature- and exercise-dependent burning pain of the feet and lower legs associated with numbness of the distal upper and lower limbs. Her monozygotic twin sister and their mother and her twin presented similar symptoms. ⋯ Genetic testing for ion channel-associated pain disorders revealed an amino acid R1150W substitution of the Nav1.7 sodium channel. The combination of a Nav1.7 polymorphism with dysmyelinating features in small-caliber peripheral nerves has not been described before and may suggest an explanation for the clinical syndrome in our patients. Treatment with the sodium channel blocker lamotrigine provided some relief, consistent with a role of sodium channel dysfunction in the pain syndrome of this family.
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Pannexin 1 (panx1) is a large-pore membrane channel expressed in many tissues of mammals, including neurons and glial cells. Panx1 channels are highly permeable to calcium and adenosine triphosphatase (ATP); on the other hand, they can be opened by ATP and glutamate, two crucial molecules for acute and chronic pain signaling in the spinal cord dorsal horn, thus suggesting that panx1 could be a key component for the generation of central sensitization during persistent pain. In this study, we examined the effect of three panx1 blockers, namely, 10panx peptide, carbenoxolone, and probenecid, on C-reflex wind-up activity and mechanical nociceptive behavior in a spared nerve injury neuropathic rat model involving sural nerve transection. ⋯ Intrathecal administration of the panx1 blockers significantly depressed the spinal C-reflex wind-up activity in both neuropathic and sham control rats, and decreased mechanical hyperalgesia in neuropathic rats without affecting the nociceptive threshold in sham animals. Western blotting showed that panx1 was similarly expressed in the dorsal horn of lumbar spinal cord from neuropathic and sham rats. The present results constitute the first evidence that panx1 channels play a significant role in the mechanisms underlying central sensitization in neuropathic pain.
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Late-life depression and pain more often co-occur than can be explained by chance. Determinants of pain in late-life depression are unknown, even though knowledge on possible determinants of pain in depression is important for clinical practice. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were 1) to describe pain characteristics of depressed older adults and a nondepressed comparison group, and 2) to explore physical, lifestyle, psychological, and social determinants of acute and chronic pain intensity, disability, and multisite pain in depressed older adults. ⋯ Adjusted for demographic, physical, and lifestyle characteristics, multinomial logistic regression analyses showed increased odds ratios (OR) for depression in acute pain (OR 3.010; P=0.005) and chronic pain (OR 4.544, P<0.001). In addition, linear regression analyses showed that acute and chronic pain intensity, disability, and multisite pain were associated with several biopsychosocial determinants, of which anxiety was most pronounced. Further research could focus on the temporal relationship between anxiety, late-life depression, and pain.
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The observation of others' facial expressions of pain has been shown to facilitate the observer's nociceptive responses and to increase pain perception. We investigated how this vicarious facilitation effect is modulated by directing the observer's attention toward the meaning of pain expression or the facial movements. In separate trials, participants were instructed to assess the "intensity of the pain expression"(meaning) or to "discriminate the facial movements" in the upper vs lower part of the face shown in 1-second dynamic clips displaying mild, moderate, or strong pain expressions or a neutral control. ⋯ However, this priming effect is influenced by top-down attentional processes. These results provide another case of dissociation between reflexive and perceptual processes, consistent with the involvement of partly separate brain networks in the regulation of cortical and lower-level nociceptive responses. Combined with previous results, these findings suggest that vicarious pain facilitation is an automatic process that may be diminished by top-down attentional processes directed at the meaning of the expression.
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Neuropathic pain affects millions of people worldwide, causing substantial disability and greatly impairing quality of life. Commonly used analgesics or antihyperalgesic compounds are generally characterized by limited therapeutic outcomes. Thus, there is a compelling need for novel therapeutic strategies able to prevent nervous tissue alterations responsible for chronic pain. ⋯ In L4-L5 dorsal root ganglia, RgIA prevented morphometric changes and reduced the inflammatory infiltrate consistent with a disease-modifying effect. In the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, RgIA prevented CCI-induced activation of microglia and astrocytes. These data suggest that RgIA-like compounds may represent a novel class of therapeutics for neuropathic pain that protects peripheral nervous tissues as well as prevents central maladaptive plasticity by inhibiting glial cell activation.