The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society
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Centrally mediated abdominal pain syndrome (CAPS) has generated a heavy disease burden worldwide. This study aimed to explore the serum exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential diagnostic biomarkers for CAPS. From September 2022 to October 2023, 97 patients with CAPS and 96 healthy subjects were enrolled. ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression indicated that hsa-miR-6850-5p (odds ratio (OR) = .046, P < .001), anxiety (OR = 7.670, P = .025), and depression (OR = 22.967, P = .008) were the independent predictors of CAPS. Serum exosomal miR-6850-5p is a promising diagnostic biomarker for CAPS. PERSPECTIVE: This study may be the first to explore serum exosomal miRNAs as new diagnostic biomarkers for CAPS, and the findings may help clinicians to access comprehensive understanding and accurate diagnosis of CAPS.
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Endometriosis-related pain may be associated with depressive symptoms. Although a growing body of evidence supports this association, the underlying mechanisms are still largely unclear. Impaired perceptions of bodily external and internal stimuli may be involved in this process. ⋯ Future research should further explore these mechanisms and evaluate the efficacy of interventions focusing on interoceptive sensibility to enhance the psychological well-being of endometriosis patients. PERSPECTIVE: This article investigates for the first time the potential role of 2 facets of interoceptive sensibility in the relationship between pain severity and depressive symptoms in women with endometriosis. These findings may contribute to advancing knowledge about the mechanisms involved in the complex pain-depression cycle.
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Research indicates that fear of progression (FoP) may be a transdiagnostic construct underlying anxiety in people with chronic health conditions. Theories propose that the interpretation of illness-related symptoms (such as pain) might be an important mechanism driving the development of FoP. However, FoP has rarely been studied in diabetes. ⋯ However, we did not find evidence that interpretation bias moderated the relationship between pain and FoP and these relationships could not be accounted for by general psychopathology. PERSPECTIVE: People with diabetes had greater health threat-related interpretation bias than people without diabetes, especially for those with persistent pain and more severe FoP. Both pain severity and interpretation bias were associated with greater FoP, but interpretation bias did not moderate the relationship between pain and FoP.
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Increasing research points to a decline in the ability to internally regulate pain as a contributing factor to the increased pain susceptibility in aging. This study investigated the connection between pain regulation and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in older adults with chronic pain. We compared functional magnetic resonance imaging rsFC of 30 older adults with chronic pain (69.5 ± 6.58 years, 14 males), 29 pain-free older (70.48 ± 4.60, 15 males), and 30 younger adults (20.0 ± 1.58, 15 males). ⋯ Furthermore, our results point to a key role of emotional and motivational brain areas, and their interaction with executive and somatosensory areas, in the reduced inhibitory capacity and likely the maintenance of chronic pain in aging. PERSPECTIVE: This study examines the link between reduced pain-inhibition capacity and increased resting-state connectivity between affective, sensory, and executive brain structures in older adults with chronic pain. These findings could inform new pain assessment and treatment programs for this population.
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U. S. adults increasingly report using cannabis to manage chronic pain and rural areas have inadequate comprehensive pain management. Using mixed methods, we aimed to understand how and why some rural adults use cannabis for pain, including within the context of co-use with opioids. ⋯ The findings suggest that rural-dwelling patients could benefit from increased access to comprehensive pain management, having cannabis addressed within pain management provider discussions, and that risks and benefits of cannabis use for pain must be better established. PERSPECTIVE: This study used a geographically explicit EMA mixed method to gather rich, intensive pilot data on cannabis use and co-use for chronic pain in rural Oklahoma. It provides unique insights to inform future research on cannabis use among a vulnerable and understudied subgroup of adults with pain-rural residents.