Journal of pain research
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2020
Brain Metabolism in Rats with Neuropathic Pain Induced by Brachial Plexus Avulsion Injury and Treated via Electroacupuncture.
Brain organisation is involved in the mechanism of neuropathic pain. Acupuncture is a common clinical practise in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of chronic pain. This study explored electroacupuncture's effects on brain metabolism following brachial plexus avulsion injury (BPAI)-induced pain. ⋯ The present study demonstrated the beneficial effects of electroacupuncture for relieving BPAI-induced neuropathic pain in rats. Electroacupuncture intervention might inhibit maladaptive plasticity in brain areas governing multidimensional functions, especially in sensorimotor- and cognition-related cortices.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2020
Depression and Anxiety as Moderators of the Pain-Social Functioning Relationship in Youth with Sickle Cell Disease.
Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic disorder of red blood cells, may experience acute pain episodes lasting 2 to 3 days on average. While existing research has demonstrated associations between SCD pain and poor social functioning in youth with SCD, there are no data on whether symptoms of depression and anxiety modify the relationship between pain and functional outcomes in pediatric pain populations. It was hypothesized that more symptoms of depression and anxiety would exacerbate the relationship between high pain and poor social functioning in youth with SCD. ⋯ Findings build on previous work supporting the need for multidisciplinary approaches to care for youth with SCD who experience pain, and provide rationale for future studies to investigate the direct and possible moderating effects of depression and anxiety symptoms on other functional outcomes in youth with SCD and other pediatric pain populations.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2020
Greater Pain Severity is Associated with Inability to Access Addiction Treatment Among a Cohort of People Who Use Drugs.
Given that co-occurring pain is prevalent among people who use drugs (PWUD), we sought to explore the effect of pain severity on accessing addiction treatment. ⋯ PWUD with greater pain severity may be at higher risk of being unable to access addiction treatment, or vice versa. While further research is needed to confirm causal associations, these data suggest that there may be underlying pathways or mechanisms through which pain may be associated with access to addiction treatment for PWUD.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2020
Big Five Personality Traits and Disabling Chronic Low Back Pain: Association with Fear-Avoidance, Anxious and Depressive Moods.
Physical dysfunction in chronic low back pain patients is influenced by psychological variables rather than by pain severity. Assessing personality traits may help clinicians address the complexity of patients' experiences and design treatments that target these vulnerabilities. This study aimed to identify the distinguishing personality traits of a cohort of patients with disabling chronic low back pain and to determine associations between those traits and fear-avoidance beliefs, depressive, and anxious moods. ⋯ Patients with disabling chronic low back pain show personality characteristics that deviate significantly from the normal population norms but do not reach maladaptive forms of personality disorders. Clinicians would benefit from assessing patients' personality traits to address protective and risk factors for psychological distress, particularly in difficult-to-treat, highly disabled low back pain patients.
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Journal of pain research · Jan 2020
Role of Dopaminergic Receptors Within the Ventral Tegmental Area in Antinociception Induced by Chemical Stimulation of the Lateral Hypothalamus in an Animal Model of Orofacial Pain.
The ventral tegmental area (VTA), as one of the classical components of the brain reward circuitry, shares large neural networks with the pain processing system. We previously showed the role of VTA dopamine receptors in modulation of lateral hypothalamus (LH)-induced antinociception in acute pain conditions. However, considering the fact that the neural systems involved in the mediation of tonic pain are not the same as those that mediate phasic pain. In the present study, we aimed to examine the role of intra-VTA dopamine receptors in LH-induced antinociceptive responses during tonic orofacial pain conditions. ⋯ The findings suggest that chemical stimulation of the LH by carbachol possibly activates the orexin projecting neurons and subsequently, the VTA dopaminergic neurons involved in the orofacial pain modulation. Detecting such neural circuitry offers an alternative approach in the development of more efficient therapies for such debilitating pain conditions.