Alterations of anti-inflammatory lipids in plasma from women with chronic widespread pain - a case control study

Study looking at biomarkers for chronic widespread pain conditions (CWP), which is thought to involve both pro-inflammatory (e.g. Cytokines) and anti-inflammatory (e.g. endogenous lipid mediators) components. Investigated 17 women with CWP and 21 healty controls: used mass spec to look at the N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), OEA, SEA and PEA (not to be confused with our technology!), and examined a range of cytokines using a mixture of Luminex and the Olink Inflammation panel (IL-6, -8 & -10). Levels of OEA and PEA were significantly higher in CWP patients, in-line with the presumed pro-inflammatory role of these lipids, and previous studies suggesting the involvement of systemic inflamation. No significant differences could be seen with the cytokines investigated (confirming some previous reports and contradicting others), and there were no correlations between the levels of lipids and cytokines (although NAE lipids have been proposed to inhibit expression of some cytokines). The authors suggest that NAEs may be better indicators of systemic inflammation in CWP than cytokines, although they acknowledge that this is based on a relatively small study.