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Rus A, López-Sánchez JA, Martínez-Martos JM, Ramírez-Expósito MJ, Molina F, Correa-Rodríguez M, Aguilar-Ferrándiz ME. Predictive Ability of Serum Amino Acid Levels to Differentiate Fibromyalgia Patients from Healthy Subjects. Mol Diagn Ther 2024; 28:113-128. [PMID: 37843759 DOI: 10.1007/s40291-023-00677-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fibromyalgia is a complex illness to diagnose and treat. OBJECTIVES To evaluate a broad range of circulating free amino acid (AA) levels in fibromyalgia patients as well as the ability of the AAs to differentiate fibromyalgia patients from healthy subjects. DESIGN We carried out a case-control study to evaluate AA levels in 62 patients with fibromyalgia and 78 healthy subjects. This study adheres to the STROBE guidelines. METHODS AAs content was assayed by HPLC in serum samples. The predictive value of AA levels in fibromyalgia was determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and forward binary logistic regression analyses. RESULTS Fibromyalgia patients showed higher serum levels of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, aminoadipic acid, asparagine, histidine, 3-methyl-histidine, 5-methyl-histidine, glycine, threonine, taurine, tyrosine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, leucine, ornithine, lysine, branched chain AAs (BCAAs), large neutral AAs, essential AAs (EAAs), non-essential AAs (NEAAs), basic AAs, EAAs/NEAAs ratio, phenylalanine/tyrosine ratio, and global arginine bioavailability ratio than the controls. Serum alanine levels were lower in patients than in controls. According to ROC analysis, most of these AAs may be good markers for differentiating individuals with fibromyalgia from healthy subjects. Results of logistic regression showed that the combination of glutamic acid, histidine, and alanine had the greatest predictive ability to diagnose fibromyalgia. CONCLUSIONS Our results show an imbalance in serum levels of most AAs in patients with fibromyalgia, which suggest a metabolic disturbance. The determination of serum levels of these AAs may aid in the diagnosis of fibromyalgia, in combination with clinical data of the patient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alma Rus
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Granada, Avenida de la Fuentenueva, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, 18012, Granada, Spain
| | - José Alberto López-Sánchez
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Granada, Avenida de la Fuentenueva, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, 18012, Granada, Spain
- Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Avenida de la Ilustración, 60, 18016, Granada, Spain
| | | | | | - Francisco Molina
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Granada, Avenida de la Fuentenueva, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
- Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Avenida de la Ilustración, 60, 18016, Granada, Spain
| | - María Correa-Rodríguez
- Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Avenida de la Ilustración, 60, 18016, Granada, Spain.
| | - María Encarnación Aguilar-Ferrándiz
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Granada, Avenida de la Fuentenueva, s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
- Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Avenida de la Ilustración, 60, 18016, Granada, Spain
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Aguilar-Ferrándiz ME, Casas-Barragán A, Rus A, Tapia-Haro RM, Martínez-Martos JM, Molina F, Correa-Rodríguez M. Associations Among Nitric Oxide and Enkephalinases With Fibromyalgia Symptoms. Nurs Res 2021; 70:E11-E20. [PMID: 33630539 DOI: 10.1097/nnr.0000000000000496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex syndrome of uncertain etiology, characterized by the presence of widespread pain. Both nitric oxide and enkephalinases modulate pain perception. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships among serum nitric oxide levels, oxytocinase activity, and enkephalin-degrading aminopeptidase (EDA) activity with pain-related clinical manifestations in women with FM. METHODS We performed an observational case study in a population of 58 women diagnosed with FM. Serum nitric oxide levels were analyzed by an ozone chemiluminescence-based assay. Both serum oxytocinase and EDA activities were fluorometrically determined. Pain threshold and pain magnitude were evaluated using the PainMatcher. The pressure pain thresholds were measured using a digital pressure algometer. We used a visual analog scale, the Central Sensitization Inventory, the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory to assess the global level of pain, the symptoms associated with the central sensitization syndrome, the severity of FM, and the anxiety level, respectively. RESULTS Multiple linear regression analysis adjusted by age, body mass index, and menopause status revealed significant associations between nitric oxide levels and dominant occiput pressure pain thresholds, nondominant occiput pressure pain thresholds, and FM effects. Significant associations of oxytocinase activity with the visual analog scale and dominant knee pressure pain thresholds were also found. Moreover, results showed a significant association between high EDA activity levels and dominant second-rib pressure pain thresholds. DISCUSSION Our data have shown significant relationships of serum nitric oxide levels and oxytocinase and EDA activities with some body pressure pain thresholds, the daily activity level, and the global intensity of pain in women with FM. These results suggest that pain, which is the main symptom of this syndrome, may be related to alterations in nitric oxide levels and in oxytocinase and EDA activities in patients with FM.
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Aguilar-Ferrándiz ME, Casas-Barragán A, Tapia-Haro RM, Rus A, Molina F, Correa-Rodríguez M. Evaluation of sympathetic adrenergic branch of cutaneous neural control throughout thermography and its relationship to nitric oxide levels in patients with fibromyalgia. J Therm Biol 2020; 95:102813. [PMID: 33454042 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fibromyalgia syndrome is defined as a complex disease, characterized by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain and other symptoms. The factors underlying physiopathology of fibromyalgia are not well understood, complicating its diagnosis and management. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the peripheral vascular blood flow of the skin of the hands and the core body temperature as indirect measures of sympathetic adrenergic activity of the nervous system and its relationship to nitric oxide levels (NO) in women with fibromyalgia compared with healthy controls. METHODS Forty-two women with fibromyalgia and 52 healthy women were enrolled in this observational pilot study. We used infrared thermography of the hands and an infrared dermal thermometer to evaluate the peripheral vascular blood flow and tympanic and axillary core body temperature, respectively. We measured NO levels using the ozone chemiluminescence-based method. RESULTS Two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the tympanic (P=0.002) and hand temperatures were significantly higher in the patients with fibromyalgia than in the controls (P≤0.001). Significant associations were also found between serum NO levels and minimum temperatures at the dorsal center of the dominant hand (β=-3.501; 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.805, ‑0.198; P= 0.038), maximum temperature (β=-5.594; 95% CI ‑10.106, ‑1.081; P=0.016), minimum temperature (β=-4.090; 95% CI ‑7.905, ‑0.275; P=0.036), and mean temperature (β=-5.519; 95% CI ‑9.933, ‑1.106; P=0.015) of the center of the palm of the non-dominant hand, maximum temperature at the thenar eminence of the dominant hand (β=-5.800; 95% CI ‑10.508, ‑1.092; P=0.017), and tympanic temperature (β=-9.321; 95% CI ‑17.974, ‑0.669; P=0.035) in the controls. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that the women with fibromyalgia showed higher tympanic core body and hand temperature than the healthy controls. Moreover, there were negative associations between hand peripheral vasodilation and NO in the healthy women but not in those with fibromyalgia, suggesting a dysfunction of sympathetic cutaneous neural control.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Encarnación Aguilar-Ferrándiz
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada (UGR), Spain.
| | - Antonio Casas-Barragán
- PhD Student of the Biomedicine Program of the University of Granada (UGR), Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA. Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada (UGR), Spain.
| | - Rosa Maria Tapia-Haro
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA. Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada (UGR), Spain.
| | - Alma Rus
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA. Department of Cell Biology, University of Granada (UGR), Spain.
| | - Francisco Molina
- Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, Spain.
| | - María Correa-Rodríguez
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada (UGR), Spain.
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Mohammadi F, Kohlmeier KA, Jeddi S, Ahmadi-Zeidabadi M, Shabani M. Affective dimensions of pain and region -specific involvement of nitric oxide in the development of empathic hyperalgesia. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10141. [PMID: 32576847 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66930-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy for pain depends on the ability to feel, recognize, comprehend and share painful emotional conditions of others. In this study, we investigated the role of NO in a rat model of empathic pain. Pain was socially transferred from the sibling demonstrator (SD) who experienced five formalin injection to the naïve sibling observer (SO) through observation. SO rats received L-NAME (a nonspecific NO synthase inhibitor) or L-arginine (a precursor of NO) prior to observing the SD. Nociception, and concentrations of NO metabolites (NOx) in the serum, left and right hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum were evaluated. Nociceptive responses were significantly increased in the pain-observing groups. NOx levels measured 24 h after the last pain observation using the Griess method, were indicative of NOx concentration decreases and increases in the left hippocampus and cerebellum, respectively. There was an increase in tissue concentration of NOx in cerebellum and prefrontal cortex in both pain and observer groups 7 days after the fifth formalin injection. Our results suggest that NO is involved in development of empathic hyperalgesia, and observation of sibling’s pain can change NO metabolites in different brain regions in observer rats.
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Fan W, Huang F, Wu Z, Zhu X, Li D, He H. The role of nitric oxide in orofacial pain. Nitric Oxide 2011; 26:32-7. [PMID: 22138296 DOI: 10.1016/j.niox.2011.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2011] [Revised: 10/31/2011] [Accepted: 11/08/2011] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical gas that has been shown to be produced by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in different cell types and recognized to act as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator in the nervous system. NOS isoforms are expressed and/or can be induced in the related structures of trigeminal nerve system, in which the regulation of NOS biosynthesis at different levels of gene expression may allow for a fine control of NO production. Several lines of evidence suggest that NO may play a role through multiple mechanisms in orofacial pain processing. This report will review the latest evidence for the role of NO involved in orofacial pain and the potential cellular mechanisms are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenguo Fan
- Department of Oral Anatomy and Physiology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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