Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK

Objective The chronic pain syndromes (CPS) include syndromes such as chronic widespread pain (CWP), dry eye disease (DED) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Highly prevalent and lacking pathognomonic biomarkers, the CPS are known to cluster in individuals in part due to their genetic overlap, but p...

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Main Authors: David L Bennett, Frances M K Williams, Maxim B Freidin, Jelle Vehof, Amber Rhee, Isabelle Granville Smith, Roger Compte, Ayrun Nessa, Samuel Wadge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2024-09-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e085814.full
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author David L Bennett
Frances M K Williams
Maxim B Freidin
Jelle Vehof
Amber Rhee
Isabelle Granville Smith
Roger Compte
Ayrun Nessa
Samuel Wadge
author_facet David L Bennett
Frances M K Williams
Maxim B Freidin
Jelle Vehof
Amber Rhee
Isabelle Granville Smith
Roger Compte
Ayrun Nessa
Samuel Wadge
author_sort David L Bennett
collection DOAJ
description Objective The chronic pain syndromes (CPS) include syndromes such as chronic widespread pain (CWP), dry eye disease (DED) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Highly prevalent and lacking pathognomonic biomarkers, the CPS are known to cluster in individuals in part due to their genetic overlap, but patient diagnosis can be difficult. The success of quantitative sensory testing (QST) and inflammatory biomarkers as phenotyping tools in conditions such as painful neuropathies warrant their investigation in CPS. We aimed to examine whether individual QST modalities and candidate inflammatory markers were associated with CWP, DED or IBS in a large, highly phenotyped population sample.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Community-dwelling cohort.Participants Twins from the TwinsUK cohortPrimary and secondary outcome measures We compared 10 QST modalities, measured in participants with and without a CWP diagnosis between 2007 and 2012. We investigated whether inflammatory markers measured by Olink were associated with CWP, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and tumour necrosis factor. All analyses were repeated in DED and IBS with correction for multiple testing.Results In N=3022 twins (95.8% women), no association was identified between individual QST modalities and CPS diagnoses (CWP, DED and IBS). Analyses of candidate inflammatory marker levels and CPS diagnoses in n=1368 twins also failed to meet statistical significance.Conclusion Our findings in a large population cohort suggest a lack of true association between singular QST modalities or candidate inflammatory markers and CPS.
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spelling doaj-art-44cbe663c96f40cea9e06a51575c5b502025-08-20T02:42:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552024-09-0114910.1136/bmjopen-2024-085814Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUKDavid L Bennett0Frances M K Williams1Maxim B Freidin2Jelle Vehof3Amber Rhee4Isabelle Granville Smith5Roger Compte6Ayrun Nessa7Samuel Wadge8Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford University, Oxford, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKTwin Research, King`s College London, London, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King`s College London, London, UKObjective The chronic pain syndromes (CPS) include syndromes such as chronic widespread pain (CWP), dry eye disease (DED) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Highly prevalent and lacking pathognomonic biomarkers, the CPS are known to cluster in individuals in part due to their genetic overlap, but patient diagnosis can be difficult. The success of quantitative sensory testing (QST) and inflammatory biomarkers as phenotyping tools in conditions such as painful neuropathies warrant their investigation in CPS. We aimed to examine whether individual QST modalities and candidate inflammatory markers were associated with CWP, DED or IBS in a large, highly phenotyped population sample.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Community-dwelling cohort.Participants Twins from the TwinsUK cohortPrimary and secondary outcome measures We compared 10 QST modalities, measured in participants with and without a CWP diagnosis between 2007 and 2012. We investigated whether inflammatory markers measured by Olink were associated with CWP, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and tumour necrosis factor. All analyses were repeated in DED and IBS with correction for multiple testing.Results In N=3022 twins (95.8% women), no association was identified between individual QST modalities and CPS diagnoses (CWP, DED and IBS). Analyses of candidate inflammatory marker levels and CPS diagnoses in n=1368 twins also failed to meet statistical significance.Conclusion Our findings in a large population cohort suggest a lack of true association between singular QST modalities or candidate inflammatory markers and CPS.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e085814.full
spellingShingle David L Bennett
Frances M K Williams
Maxim B Freidin
Jelle Vehof
Amber Rhee
Isabelle Granville Smith
Roger Compte
Ayrun Nessa
Samuel Wadge
Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
BMJ Open
title Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
title_full Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
title_fullStr Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
title_short Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
title_sort quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes a cross sectional study from twinsuk
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e085814.full
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