Dexamethasone-suppressed Salivary Cortisol and Pain Sensitivity in Female Twins.

Objectives: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation is associated with chronic pain. Studying pain sensitivity and the HPA axis could elucidate the role of stress in chronic pain development, which might be influenced by familial factors, including genes.

Methods: Associations between pain sensitivity and salivary cortisol and familial confounding in these associations were examined in 88 female, community-based twin pairs (75% monozygotic, mean age 29 y).

Familial Contributions to Self-Reported Sleep and Pain in Female Twins.

Objective: The relationship between sleep quality and pain has been studied in populations with chronic pain and in nonclinical populations using experimental paradigms. Little is known about the familial contributions to this relationship. This study examines self-reported sleep quality and pain in a nonclinical sample and to explore familial (i.

Clinical and evoked pain, personality traits, and emotional states: can familial confounding explain the associations?

Objectives: Pain is a complex phenomenon influenced by context and person-specific factors. Affective dimensions of pain involve both enduring personality traits and fleeting emotional states. We examined how personality traits and emotional states are linked with clinical and evoked pain in a twin sample.

Salivary cortisol and cold pain sensitivity in female twins.

Background: There is a dearth of knowledge about the link between cortisol and pain sensitivity.

Purpose: We examined the association of salivary cortisol with indices of cold pain sensitivity in 198 female twins and explored the role of familial confounding.

Methods: Three-day saliva samples were collected for cortisol levels and a cold pressor test was used to collect pain ratings and time to threshold and tolerance.

Chronic fatigue and personality: a twin study of causal pathways and shared liabilities.

Background: The etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) remains unknown. Personality traits influence well-being and may play a role in CFS and unexplained chronic fatigue.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the association of emotional instability and extraversion with chronic fatigue and CFS in a genetically informative sample.

C-reactive protein and pain sensitivity: findings from female twins.

Background: Systemic inflammation and pain sensitivity may contribute to the development and maintenance of chronic pain conditions.

Purpose: We examined the relationship between systemic inflammation as measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) and cold pain sensitivity in 198 female twins from the University of Washington Twin Registry. We also explored the potential role of familial factors in this relationship.

Serotonin syndrome associated with polypharmacy in the elderly.

The increasing use of serotonergic agents, alone and in combination, across multiple disciplines, makes it likely that the prevalence of serotonin syndrome will rise. Caution should be used, especially in the elderly, to avoid unnecessary and potentially harmful polypharmacy. We describe a case of serotonin syndrome in a 79-year-old man taking mirtazapine, venlafaxine and quetiapine.