Latest Articles
-
Back pain is a common and recurrent health complaint in adolescence. Psychosocial factors may be associated with the onset and persistence of back pain symptoms. This systematic review aims to determine the association between bullying victimization and back pain in young people. ⋯ Our synthesis of evidence found a weak-moderate association between bullying victimization and back pain in young people. Methodological shortcomings and heterogeneity in the field limit causal inference. Future longitudinal studies are required.
-
Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Mar 2025
Review Meta AnalysisVascular endothelial growth factor in inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is linked to inflammation and angiogenesis, indicating a possible role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its main clinical manifestations, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated studies assessing circulating VEGF concentrations in IBD patients and healthy controls, considering the effect of IBD type, sample type and geographical location. ⋯ VEGF concentrations are elevated in IBD patients, with variations by disease type, sample type and geography. However, VEGF is not a reliable marker of disease activity. Future research should standardize methods and explore regional influences to enhance VEGF's clinical utility as a biomarker of IBD.
-
Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Mar 2025
Review Meta AnalysisVascular endothelial growth factor in inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is linked to inflammation and angiogenesis, indicating a possible role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its main clinical manifestations, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated studies assessing circulating VEGF concentrations in IBD patients and healthy controls, considering the effect of IBD type, sample type and geographical location. ⋯ VEGF concentrations are elevated in IBD patients, with variations by disease type, sample type and geography. However, VEGF is not a reliable marker of disease activity. Future research should standardize methods and explore regional influences to enhance VEGF's clinical utility as a biomarker of IBD.
-
Central sensitization (CS) is believed to play a role in many chronic pain conditions. Direct non-invasive recording from single nociceptive neurons is not feasible in humans, complicating CS establishment. This review discusses how secondary hyperalgesia (SHA), considered a manifestation of CS, affects physiological measures in healthy individuals and if these measures could indicate CS. It addresses controversies about heat sensitivity changes, the role of tactile afferents in mechanical hypersensitivity and detecting SHA through electrical stimuli. Additionally, it reviews the potential of neurophysiological measures to indicate CS presence. ⋯ Gathering evidence for CS in humans is a crucial research focus, especially with the increasing interest in concepts such as 'central sensitization-like pain' or 'nociplastic pain'. This review clarifies which readouts, among the different behavioural and neurophysiological proxies tested in experimental settings, can be used to infer the presence of CS in humans.
-
The public release of ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked a boom and public interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) that has led to journals and journal families hastily releasing generative AI policies, ranging from asking authors for acknowledgement or declaration to the outright banning of use. ⋯ We discuss the history and current state of AI and highlight its relevance for medical publishing and pain research. We provide guidance on how to act now to increase good scientific practice in the world of ChatGPT and call for a task force focusing on improving publishing pain research with use of generative AI.