Quantitative sensory testing and chronic pain syndromes: a cross-sectional study from TwinsUK
BMJ Open, 2024
Rhee A., Granville Smith I., Compte R., Vehof J., Nessa A., Wadge S., Freidin M., Bennett D., Williams F.
| Disease area | Application area | Sample type | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
Neurology | Patient Stratification | Serum | O Olink Target 96 |
Abstract
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 cohort
Primary 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.