Brain, behavior, and immunity
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Brain Behav. Immun. · Feb 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialNegative affectivity predicts decreased pain tolerance during low-grade inflammation in healthy women.
Experimental animal studies provided evidence for a synergistic effect of immunological and psychological stressors on subsequent sickness behaviours. Up to now, little corroborating evidence for such synergy exists for humans, in whom it may provide a mechanism leading to the expression of functional somatic symptoms. The aim of the present study was to determine an interaction between stress(-vulnerability) and an immunological activation on experimental pain sensitivity, i.e., pressure pain threshold and tolerance in healthy humans. ⋯ NA moderated the effects of inflammation on pain tolerance. This finding is consistent with a synergistic model whereby inflammation may lower the threshold for pain reporting in individuals with increased vulnerability for somatic symptom reporting.