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【medical-news】大脑谷氨酸水平升高导致纤维肌痛
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2008) — Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a key linkage between pain and a specific brain molecule, a discovery that lends new insight into fibromyalgia, an often-baffling chronic pain condition.
In patients with fibromyalgia, researchers found, pain decreased when levels of the brain molecule called glutamate went down. The results of this study, which appears in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, could be useful to researchers looking for new drugs that treat fibromyalgia, the authors say.
"If these findings are replicated, investigators performing clinical treatment trials in fibromyalgia could potentially use glutamate as a 'surrogate' marker of disease response," says lead author Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Division of Rheumatology at the U-M Medical School's Department of Internal Medicine and a researcher at the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center.
The molecule glutamate is a neurotransmitter, which means it conveys information between neurons in the nervous system. When glutamate is released from one neuron, it diffuses across the space between cells, and then binds to receptors on the next neuron in line and causes the cell to become excited, or to be more active.
This molecule was suspected to play a role in fibromyalgia because previous studies had shown that some brain regions in fibromyalgia patients appear to be highly excited. One such region is the insula.
In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, researchers at U-M had previously shown that the insula displays augmented activity in fibromyalgia, which means neurons in these patients are more active in this part of the brain. The U-M team hypothesized, Harris notes, that more activity among these neurons might be related to the level of glutamate in this region.
To gauge the linkage between pain and glutamate, the researchers used a non-invasive brain imaging techinique called proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS). H-MRS was performed once before and once following a four-week course of acupuncture or "sham" acupuncture.
Researchers used either acupuncture or sham acupuncture to reduce pain symptoms. The sham procedure involved using a sharp device to prick the skin in order to mimic real acupuncture sensations.
Following the four weeks of treatment, both clinical and experimental pain reported were reduced significantly. More importantly the reduction in both pain outcomes was linked with reductions in glutamate levels in the insula: patients with greater reductions in pain showed greater reductions in glutamate. This suggests that glutamate may play a role in this disease and that it could potentially be used as a biomarker of disease severity.
Because of the small number of participants in this study, further research should be conducted to verify the role of glutamate in fibromyalgia, Harris says.
The senior author of the study was Daniel J. Clauw, M.D., director of the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. Other authors were Richard H. Gracely, Ph.D., and Seong-Ho Kim, M.D., of the U-M Department of Internal Medicine; Pia C. Sundgren, M.D., Ph.D., Yuxi Pang, Ph.D., and Myria Petrou, M.D., of the U-M Department of Radiology; Michael Hsu, M.D., of the U-M Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; and Samuel A. McLean, M.D., of the U-M Department of Emergency Medicine.
Funding came from a Department of Army grant, the National Institutes of Health, and the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Reference: Arthritis and Rheumatism, March 2008, Volume 58, Issue 3, "Dynamic Levels of Glutamate within the Insula are Associated with Improvements in Multiple Pain Domains in Fibromyalgia."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310112658.htm Pain In Fibromyalgia Is Linked To Changes In Brain Molecule
纤维肌痛与大脑中分子改变有关
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2008) — Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a key linkage between pain and a specific brain molecule, a discovery that lends new insight into fibromyalgia, an often-baffling chronic pain condition.
ScienceDaily (2008年3月13)－密歇根大学健康系统的研究者们发现了疼痛和大脑特异分子间一个关键连接，这发现引导了对纤维肌痛的新的领悟，那是一种经常并且让人莫明其妙的慢性疼痛性疾病。
In patients with fibromyalgia, researchers found, pain decreased when levels of the brain molecule called glutamate went down. The results of this study, which appears in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, could be useful to researchers looking for new drugs that treat fibromyalgia, the authors say.
研究者发现，有纤维肌痛的患者，当大脑中叫作谷氨酸的分子水平降低时疼痛减轻。这个研究的结果，在关节炎与风湿病杂志发表，作者们说，可能对研究者为治疗纤维肌痛寻找新的药物有用。
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-12-02 17:11
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