Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?

Abstract. Assessments of serum-autoantibodies in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) date back to the 1980s and have yielded inconsistent results. Based on a new passive transfer paradigm, since 2021 causative involvement of immunoglobulin G–mediated autoimmunity in severe FMS has been demonstrated in sever...

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Main Author: Andreas Goebel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer 2025-08-01
Series:PAIN Reports
Online Access:http://journals.lww.com/painrpts/fulltext/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001270
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author Andreas Goebel
author_facet Andreas Goebel
author_sort Andreas Goebel
collection DOAJ
description Abstract. Assessments of serum-autoantibodies in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) date back to the 1980s and have yielded inconsistent results. Based on a new passive transfer paradigm, since 2021 causative involvement of immunoglobulin G–mediated autoimmunity in severe FMS has been demonstrated in several studies, which have included UK, Swedish, and Canadian patients. These findings open the path to the development of novel diagnostic and immune-therapeutic approaches. Autoantibody targets and downstream mechanisms and the molecular processes that translate infection-, toxicity-, or stress-triggers into the FMS immune response in genetically or otherwise vulnerable individuals require study. These results in FMS also suggest that other chronic pain conditions or nonpainful symptom-based disorders may similarly be caused by noninflammatory minimally destructive autoantibody-mediated autoimmunity, thus offering hope for large groups of patients.
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spelling doaj-art-5dd3ecbb7b174b8d9fcc7758b39874862025-08-20T02:48:16ZengWolters KluwerPAIN Reports2471-25312025-08-01104e127010.1097/PR9.0000000000001270PR90000000000001270Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?Andreas Goebel0a Pain Research Institute, University of Liverpool, England, United KingdomAbstract. Assessments of serum-autoantibodies in fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) date back to the 1980s and have yielded inconsistent results. Based on a new passive transfer paradigm, since 2021 causative involvement of immunoglobulin G–mediated autoimmunity in severe FMS has been demonstrated in several studies, which have included UK, Swedish, and Canadian patients. These findings open the path to the development of novel diagnostic and immune-therapeutic approaches. Autoantibody targets and downstream mechanisms and the molecular processes that translate infection-, toxicity-, or stress-triggers into the FMS immune response in genetically or otherwise vulnerable individuals require study. These results in FMS also suggest that other chronic pain conditions or nonpainful symptom-based disorders may similarly be caused by noninflammatory minimally destructive autoantibody-mediated autoimmunity, thus offering hope for large groups of patients.http://journals.lww.com/painrpts/fulltext/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001270
spellingShingle Andreas Goebel
Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?
PAIN Reports
title Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?
title_full Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?
title_fullStr Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?
title_full_unstemmed Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?
title_short Fibromyalgia syndrome—am I an autoimmune condition?
title_sort fibromyalgia syndrome am i an autoimmune condition
url http://journals.lww.com/painrpts/fulltext/10.1097/PR9.0000000000001270
work_keys_str_mv AT andreasgoebel fibromyalgiasyndromeamianautoimmunecondition