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Internalizing mental health issues co-occur with pediatric chronic pain at high rates and are linked to worse pain and functioning. Although the field has prioritized anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, little is known about co-occurring depression and chronic pain in youth, despite its high prevalence. The purpose of this narrative review was to examine the existing literature on the co-occurrence of pediatric chronic pain and depressive disorders and symptoms and propose a conceptual model of mutual maintenance to guide future research.
Learn More >Since the definition of chronic migraine as a new disease entity in 2004, numerous clinical trials have examined the efficacy of preventive treatments in chronic migraine. Our aim was to assess the adherence of these trials to the Guidelines of the International Headache Society published in 2008.
Learn More >High expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is associated with immature angiogenesis within the urinary bladder wall and bladder afferent nerve sensitization leading to visceral hyperalgesia and pelvic pain. Research suggests a shift in VEGF alternative splice variant (VEGF-Aa, VEGF-Ab) expression with several pathologies (e.g., neuropathic pain and inflammation), as well as exhibiting differing effects on pain. Translational studies have also demonstrated increased total VEGF expression in the bladder of women with Interstitial cystitis/Bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). In this study, we quantified VEGF alternative splice variant expression in LUT tissues under control conditions and with CYP-induced cystitis. Using conscious cystometry, we further determined the functional effects of VEGFR2 receptor blockade on bladder function using intravesical instillation of a potent and selective VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (Ki8751, 1 mg/kg) in Wistar rats (male and female) with acute and chronic CYP-induced cystitis and controls (no CYP). With VEGFR2 receptor blockade, bladder capacity increased ( ≤ 0.01) in male and female control rats, as well as male and female rats with acute (p ≤ 0.05) or chronic (p ≤ 0.01, p ≤ 0.05 respectively) CYP-induced cystitis. Void volume also increased in female control (p ≤ 0.01) rats and female rats with acute (p ≤ 0.05) or chronic (p ≤ 0.05) CYP-induced cystitis, as well as in male control (p ≤ 0.05) rats and male rats with chronic (p ≤ 0.01) CYP-induced cystitis. These data suggest that VEGF may be a biomarker for IC/BPS and targeting VEGF/VEGFR2 signaling may be an effective treatment.
Learn More >Headache disorders are among the most common and disabling medical conditions worldwide. Pharmacologic acute and preventive treatments are often insufficient and poorly tolerated, and the majority of patients are unable to adhere to their migraine treatments due to these issues. With improvements in our understanding of migraine and cluster headache pathophysiology, neuromodulation devices have been developed as safe and effective acute and preventive treatment options. In this review, we focus on neuromodulation devices that have been studied for migraine and cluster headache, with special attention to those that have gained food and drug administration (FDA) clearance. We will also explore how these devices can be used in patients who might have limited pharmacologic options, including the elderly, children, and pregnant women.
Learn More >Inhibition of voltage-gated calcium (CaV) channels is a potential therapy for many neurological diseases including chronic pain. Neuronal CaV1/CaV2 channels are composed of α, β, γ and α2δ subunits. The β subunits of CaV channels are cytoplasmic proteins that increase the surface expression of the pore-forming α subunit of CaV. We targeted the high-affinity protein-protein interface of CaVβ's pocket within the CaVα subunit. Structure-based virtual screening of 50,000 small molecule library docked to the β subunit led to the identification of 2-(3,5-dimethylisoxazol-4-yl)-N-((4-((3-phenylpropyl)amino)quinazolin-2-yl)methyl)acetamide (IPPQ). This small molecule bound to CaVβ and inhibited its coupling with N-type voltage-gated calcium (CaV2.2) channels, leading to a reduction in CaV2.2 currents in rat dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons, decreased presynaptic localization of CaV2.2 in vivo, decreased frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic potentials and miniature excitatory postsynaptic potentials, and inhibited release of the nociceptive neurotransmitter calcitonin gene-related peptide from spinal cord. IPPQ did not target opioid receptors nor did it engage inhibitory G protein-coupled receptor signaling. IPPQ was antinociceptive in naive animals and reversed allodynia and hyperalgesia in models of acute (postsurgical) and neuropathic (spinal nerve ligation, chemotherapy- and gp120-induced peripheral neuropathy, and genome-edited neuropathy) pain. IPPQ did not cause akinesia or motor impairment, a common adverse effect of CaV2.2 targeting drugs, when injected into the brain. IPPQ, a quinazoline analog, represents a novel class of CaV2.2-targeting compounds that may serve as probes to interrogate CaVα-CaVβ function and ultimately be developed as a nonopioid therapeutic for chronic pain.
Learn More >Chronic pain affects 1 in 5 people and has been shown to disrupt attention. Here, we investigated whether pain disrupts everyday decision making. In Study 1, 1322 participants completed two tasks online: a shopping decisions task and a measure of decision outcomes over the previous 10 years. Participants who were in pain during the study made more errors on the shopping task than those who were pain-free. Participants with a recurrent pain condition reported more negative outcomes from their past decisions than those without recurrent pain. In Study 2, 44 healthy participants completed the shopping decisions task with and without experimentally-induced pain. Participants made more errors while in pain than while pain-free. We suggest that the disruptive effect of pain on attending translates into poorer decisions in more complex and ecologically valid contexts, that the effect is causal, and that the consequences are not only attentional, but financial.
Learn More >Patients suffering from neuropathic pain have a higher incidence of depression and cognitive decline. Although environment enrichment (EE) may be effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain, the precise mechanisms underlying its actions remain determined. The aim of the study was to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying the EE's beneficial effects in mice with neuropathic pain. EE attenuated the pain threshold reduction, depression-like phenotype, and memory deficit in mice after chronic constriction injury (CCI). Furthermore, EE attenuated decreased neurogenesis and increased inflammation in the hippocampus of mice with neuropathic pain after CCI. Moreover, the suppression of adult hippocampal neurogenesis by temozolomide antagonized the beneficial effects of EE on depression-like phenotype and cognitive deficit in the mice with neuropathic pain. In addition, lipopolysaccharide-induced increase in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the hippocampus antagonized the beneficial effects of EE for these behavioral abnormalities in mice with neuropathic pain. Knock-down of NPAS4 (neuronal PAS domain protein 4) in the hippocampus by lentivirus targeting NPAS4 blocked these beneficial effects of EE in the mice with neuropathic pain. These all findings suggest that hippocampal NPAS4 plays a key role in the beneficial effects of EE on the pain sensitivity, depression-like phenotype, and memory deficit in mice with neuropathic pain. Therefore, it is likely that NPAS4 would be a new therapeutic target for perceptional, affective, and cognitive dimensions in patients with chronic pain.
Learn More >Opioids are among the most effective and widely prescribed medications for the treatment of pain following spinal cord injury (SCI). Spinally-injured patients receive opioids within hours of arrival at the emergency room, and prolonged opioid regimens are often employed for the management of post-SCI chronic pain. However, previous studies in our laboratory suggest that the effects of opioids such as morphine may be altered in the pathophysiological context of neurotrauma. Specifically, we have shown that morphine administration in a rodent model of SCI increases mortality and tissue loss at the injury site, and decreases recovery of motor and sensory function, and overall health, even weeks after treatment. The literature suggests that opioids may produce these adverse effects by acting as endotoxins and increasing glial activation and inflammation. To better understand the effects of morphine following SCI, in this study we used flow cytometry to assess immune-competent cells at the lesion site. We observed a morphine-induced increase in the overall number of CD11b+ cells, with marked effects on microglia, in SCI subjects. Next, to investigate whether this increase in the inflammatory profile is necessary to produce morphine's effects, we challenged morphine treatment with minocycline. We found that pre-treatment with minocycline reduced the morphine-induced increase in microglia at the lesion site. More importantly, minocycline also blocked the adverse effects of morphine on recovery of function without disrupting the analgesic efficacy of this opioid. Together, our findings suggest that following SCI, morphine may exacerbate the inflammatory response, increasing cell death at the lesion site and negatively affecting functional recovery.
Learn More >Altered Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 activation has been identified in several chronic pain conditions but has not been well studied in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Our published human studies indicated that IC/BPS patients present altered systemic TLR4-mediated inflammatory responses, which were significantly correlated with reported pain severity. In this study, we sought to determine whether altered TLR4 activation plays a role in pelvic/bladder pain seen in IC/BPS patients using our validated IC/BPS-like transgenic autoimmune cystitis model (URO-OVA). URO-OVA mice developed responses consistent with pelvic and bladder pain after cystitis induction, which was associated with increased splenocyte production of TLR4-mediated proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a. Increased spinal expression of mRNAs for proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-a, glial activation markers CD11b and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and endogenous TLR4 ligand high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was also observed after cystitis induction. Compared to URO-OVA mice, URO-OVA (TLR4-deficient URO-OVA) mice developed significantly reduced nociceptive responses, although similar bladder inflammation and voiding dysfunction, after cystitis induction. Intravenous administration of TAK-242 (a TLR4 selective antagonist) significantly attenuated nociceptive responses in cystitis-induced URO-OVA mice, which was associated with reduced splenocyte production of TLR4-mediated IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-a as well as reduced spinal expression of mRNAs for IL-6, TNF-a, CD11b, GFAP, and HMGB1. Our results indicate that altered TLR4 activation plays a critical role in bladder nociception independent of inflammation and voiding dysfunction in the URO-OVA model, providing a potential mechanistic insight and a therapeutic target for IC/BPS pain.
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