The thalamus is a key region for the transmission of nociceptive information in the central modulation of pain and has been studied in the setting of numerous chronic pain conditions. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is considered an important modulator for mediating nociceptive pathways in chronic pain. The present study aimed to investigate whether there was thalamus-related abnormal functional connectivity or relevant serum BDNF level alterations during periovulation in long-term primary dysmenorrhea (PDM). Thalamic subregions were defined according to the Human Brainnetome Atlas. Functional connectivity analyses were performed in 36 patients in the periovulatory phase and 29 age-, education-, and gender-matched healthy controls. Serum BDNF levels were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a significantly higher BDNF level was detected in PDM patients. Compared with HCs, PDM patients had abnormal functional connectivity of thalamic-subregions, mainly involving with prefrontal cortex, sensorimotor cortex, and temporal cortex. In addition, the functional connectivity of thalamic-subregions showed significant interactive effect correlated with serum BDNF level between PDM and HCs. It has been suggested that there were maladaptive or adoptive alteration associated with chronic menstrual pain even without the ongoing menstrual pain. BDNF might play a role in the development and chronicity of central nervous system dysfunction. These findings provided more accurate information about the involvement of the thalamus in the pathophysiology of PDM.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6779153PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00333DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

functional connectivity
20
serum bdnf
16
bdnf level
12
bdnf levels
8
periovulatory phase
8
primary dysmenorrhea
8
chronic pain
8
abnormal functional
8
pdm patients
8
connectivity thalamic-subregions
8

Similar Publications

Background: There is debate as to whether kinematic TKA or mechanical alignment TKA is superior. Recent systematic reviews have suggested that kinematically aligned TKAs may be the preferred option. However, the observed differences in alignment favoring kinematic alignment may not improve outcomes (performance or durability) in ways that patients can perceive, and likewise, statistical differences in outcome scores sometimes observed in clinical trials may be too small for patients to notice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Nonweightbearing preoperative assessments avoid quadriceps contraction that tends to affect patellar motion and appear to be inaccurate in quantifying anatomic factors, which can lead to incorrect corrections and postoperative complications.

Questions/purposes: (1) Does the relationship of patellar axial malalignment and other anatomic factors change during weightbearing? (2) What anatomic factor was most strongly correlated with recurrent patellar dislocation during weightbearing?

Methods: This prospective, comparative, observational study recruited participants at our institution between January 2023 and September 2023. During this time, all patients with recurrent patellar dislocations received both weightbearing and nonweightbearing CT scans; control patients who received unilateral CT scans because of injuries or benign tumors received both weightbearing and nonweightbearing CT scans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The use of telemonitoring to manage renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recommended by health authorities. However, despite these recommendations, the adoption of telemonitoring by both health care professionals and patients faces numerous challenges.

Objective: This study aims to identify barriers and facilitators in the implementation of a telemonitoring program for patients with CKD, as perceived by health care professionals and patients, and to explore factors associated with the adoption of the program.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prosocial behaviors are advantageous to social species, but the neural mechanism(s) through which others receive benefit remain unknown. Here, we found that bystander mice display rescue-like behavior (tongue dragging) toward anesthetized cagemates and found that this tongue dragging promotes arousal from anesthesia through a direct tongue-brain circuit. We found that a direct circuit from the tongue → glutamatergic neurons in the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus (MTN) → noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) drives rapid arousal in the anesthetized mice that receive the rescue-like behavior from bystanders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyloid-β (Aβ) triggers the aggregation and spreading of tau pathology, which drives neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. However, the pathophysiological link between Aβ and tau remains unclear, which hinders therapeutic efforts to attenuate Aβ-related tau accumulation. Aβ has been found to trigger neuronal hyperactivity and hyperconnectivity, and preclinical research has shown that tau spreads across connected neurons in an activity-dependent manner.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!