European journal of pain : EJP
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Pain expectancies are associated with altered pain sensitivity in individuals with chronic pain. However, little is known about the processes by which pain expectancies impact pain processing. This study assessed the association between pain expectancies and temporal summation (TS) of pain, and examined whether pain catastrophizing mediated this association. ⋯ The findings from this study suggest that compared to controls, CLBP patients show increased sensitivity to mechanical pain procedures and enhanced pain facilitatory processing, proving further evidence for changes in central nervous system pain processing in CLBP patients. Our results also suggest that pain catastrophizing may be the mechanism by which pain expectancies are associated with TS of pain in CLBP patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Amylin is a calcitonin gene-related peptide family member expressed by nociceptors. Amylin's expression is down-regulated following nerve damage and studies suggested it affects nociception. We aimed at clarifying amylin's effects on chronic neuropathic pain and investigating its site of action. ⋯ Amylin's nociceptive effects seem to depend on the treatment duration and route of administration by acting at different levels of the nervous system. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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We appreciate the response to our article (Foxen-Craft et al., 2018) by Pordanjani, Iranpour, & Sabour for opening the discussion about use of statistical techniques in psychometric validation. Overall, the authors' critiques regarding the limits of the kappa statistic are fair, but there is also justification for its use in this study. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Pain is a common symptom in patients that survive cancer and in those that live with progressive advanced disease. Evidence from meta-analyses suggests that pain remains poorly controlled for a large proportion of patients; barriers to good management include poor assessment of pain, inadequate support for patient self-management, and late or inadequate access to strong opioid analgesia in those with advanced disease. ⋯ The 10 standards presented are aimed to improve cancer pain management and reduce variation in practice across Europe. The Task Force believes that adoption of these standards by all 37 countries will promote the quality of care of patients with cancer related pain and reduce unnecessary suffering. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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We have recently reported that the spinal angiotensin (Ang) converting enzyme (ACE)/Ang II/AT1 receptor axis and downstream p38 MAPK phosphorylation are activated in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice and lead to tactile hypersensitivity. Moreover, our previous results suggested that the intrathecal (i.t.) administration of Ang (1-7), an N-terminal fragment of Ang II, may attenuate the Ang II-induced nociceptive behaviour through the inhibition of p38 MAPK phosphorylation via Mas receptors. Here, we investigated whether the i.t. administration of Ang (1-7) can attenuate STZ-induced diabetic neuropathic pain. ⋯ The ACE2/Ang (1-7)/Mas receptor axis was down-regulated in the spinal cord of STZ mice and the i.t. administration of Ang (1-7) attenuated the STZ-induced diabetic neuropathic pain via Mas receptors. Therefore, the activation of this axis could be an effective therapeutic target to alleviate the neuropathic pain in diabetic patients.