Toward Composite Pain Biomarkers of Neuropathic Pain-Focus on Peripheral Neuropathic Pain

Overview

Journal Front Pain Res (Lausanne)

Date 2022 May 31

PMID 35634449

Authors

Monica M Diaz

Jacob Caylor

Irina Strigo

Imanuel Lerman

Brook Henry

Eduardo Lopez

Mark S Wallace

Ronald J Ellis

Alan N Simmons

John R Keltner

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Chronic pain affects ~10-20% of the U.S. population with an estimated annual cost of $600 billion, the most significant economic cost of any disease to-date. Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain that is particularly difficult to manage and leads to significant disability and poor quality of life. Pain biomarkers offer the possibility to develop objective pain-related indicators that may help diagnose, treat, and improve the understanding of neuropathic pain pathophysiology. We review neuropathic pain mechanisms related to opiates, inflammation, and endocannabinoids with the objective of identifying composite biomarkers of neuropathic pain. In the literature, pain biomarkers typically are divided into physiological non-imaging pain biomarkers and brain imaging pain biomarkers. We review both types of biomarker types with the goal of identifying composite pain biomarkers that may improve recognition and treatment of neuropathic pain.

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