Introduction: Pain is prevalent in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Unknowns regarding the biological drivers of pain complicate therapeutic targeting. We employed neuroimaging to define pain-related neurobiological features altered in JIA.
Methods: 16 male and female JIA patients (12.7 ± 2.8 years of age) on active treatment were enrolled, together with age- and sex-matched controls. Patients were assessed using physical examination, clinical questionnaires, musculoskeletal MRI, and structural neuroimaging. In addition, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected during the resting-state, hand-motor task performance, and cold stimulation of the hand and knee.
Results: Patients with and without pain and with and without inflammation (joint and systemic) were evaluated. Pain severity was associated with more physical stress and poorer cognitive function. Corrected for multiple comparisons, morphological analysis revealed decreased cortical thickness within the insula cortex and a negative correlation between caudate nucleus volume and pain severity. Functional neuroimaging findings suggested alteration within neurocircuitry structures regulating emotional pain processing (anterior insula) in addition to the default-mode and sensorimotor networks.
Conclusions: Patients with JIA may exhibit changes in neurobiological circuits related to pain. These preliminary findings suggest mechanisms by which pain could potentially become dissociated from detectable joint pathology and persist independently of inflammation or treatment status.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2021.05.011 | DOI Listing |
J Med Chem
January 2025
European Institute for Molecular Imaging (EIMI), University of Muenster, Roentgenstr. 16, 48149 Muenster, Germany.
The P2X4 receptor is implicated in various pathological conditions, including neuropathic pain and cancer. This study reports the development of 1,4-naphthodiazepinedione-based P2X4 receptor antagonists aimed at both therapeutic applications and potential use as PET tracers for imaging P2X4 receptor expression in cancer. Structure-activity relationship studies aided by docking studies and molecular dynamics simulations led to a series of compounds with potent P2X4 receptor antagonism, promising inhibition of interleukin-1β release in THP-1 cells and suitability for radiolabeling with fluorine-18.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Crit Care Med
January 2025
McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev
January 2025
Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, School of Medicine, Zapopan, Mexico.
Background: Physicians worldwide face the challenging task of improving patient satisfaction by reducing pain in injured patients. Currently, available therapeutic approaches provide only short-term relief of symptoms without addressing long-term satisfaction. This has led to exploring regenerative treatment options that can deliver better outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Phys Med Rehabil
January 2025
Department of Clinical Psychology, International Institute of Behavioural Medicine, Seville, Spain.
Objective: To provide evidence that catastrophizing is the primer of the cognitive-behavioural model of fear of movement/(re)injury (FAM).
Design: A cross-sectional analysis of 180 outpatients with chronic non-specific low back pain who completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Depression (HADS-D), and a pain intensity numerical rating scale (NRS). The intercorrelations of the outcome measures were estimated using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), and regression analyses were used to examine their predictive values by following the left side of the FAM clockwise from the PCS (p = 0.
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, 250117, P. R. China.
Mitochondrial quality control is paramount for cellular development, with mitochondrial electron flow (Mito-EF) playing a central role in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis. However, unlike visible protein entities, which can be monitored through chemical biotechnology, regulating mitochondrial quality control by invisible entities such as Mito-EF has remained elusive. Here, a Mito-EF tracker (Mito-EFT) with a four-pronged probe design is presented to elucidate the dynamic mechanisms of Mito-EF's involvement in mitochondrial quality control.
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