Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) Paradigms: Reliability and Relationship With Individual Characteristics.

Purpose: Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) is a useful tool for testing the functionality of endogenous pain modulation. However, inconsistent results have been obtained in clinical populations, possibly due to the wide variety of CPM protocols used and the influence of demographic and psychological characteristics of the individuals assessed.

Methods: We tested the sensitivity and reliability of four commonly used CPM paradigms in a sample of 58 healthy participants.

Systematic Review of the Cost-Effectiveness of Home-Based Palliative Care Interventions in Patients with Cancer: A Critical Analysis.

Background: The increased prevalence of cancer and the negative impact of pain on the quality of life of patients underscore the need to implement efficient palliative care interventions and management of pain. The cost-effectiveness of palliative care interventions for cancer, mostly pharmacological and delivered through home-based palliative care services, is unclear. Most of the studies do not take into account indirect costs nor consider variations across different geographical regions.

The polymorphism Val158Met in the COMT gene: disrupted dopamine system in fibromyalgia patients?

The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs4680 in the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene ( COMT ) is a missense variant (Val158Met) associated with altered activity of the COMT enzyme and suggested as a predictive feature for developing some chronic pain conditions. However, there are controversial results on its role in fibromyalgia (FM). Here, the SNP Val158Met was analyzed in 294 FM patients (without comorbidities) and 209 healthy controls (without chronic pain).

Temporal summation of second pain is affected by cognitive load.

This work attempted to clarify the interaction of cognition and pain sensitization during a paradigm of Temporal Summation of Second Pain (TSSP). We analyzed pain ratings and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity obtained from 21 healthy participants during the presentation of four experimental conditions that differed in the manipulation of attention to painful stimuli or working memory load (Attention to hand & TSSP; 0-back & TSSP (low cognitive load); 2-back & TSSP (high cognitive load); 2-back (without pain)). We found that the TSSP was reduced when the attention was diverted and the cognitive load increased, and this reduction was accompanied by higher midfrontal theta activity and lower posterior alpha and central beta activity.

Validity of central pain processing biomarkers for predicting the occurrence of oncological chronic pain: a study protocol.

Background: Despite recent improvements in cancer detection and survival rates, managing cancer-related pain remains a significant challenge. Compared to neuropathic and inflammatory pain conditions, cancer pain mechanisms are poorly understood, despite pain being one of the most feared symptoms by cancer patients and significantly impairing their quality of life, daily activities, and social interactions. The objective of this work was to select a panel of biomarkers of central pain processing and modulation and assess their ability to predict chronic pain in patients with cancer using predictive artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.