Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-12-10
pubmed:abstractText
Although patients with a depressive disorder report often of pain, their sensitivity to experimental pain is controversial, probably due to differences in sensory testing methods and to the lack of normal values. Therefore, we used a standardized and validated comprehensive sensory testing paradigm to assess the peripheral and central nervous system performance in depressive patients compared to healthy controls and chronic pain patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), in which depression is a common comorbidity. Twenty-five depressive psychiatric inpatients (pain-free: n=20), 35 FMS outpatients and 25 healthy controls underwent quantitative sensory testing (QST), including thermal and mechanical detection and pain thresholds, pain sensitivity and responsiveness to repetitive noxious mechanical stimuli (wind-up). In depressive disorder (to a lesser extent also in FMS), significantly decreased cold pain thresholds and an increased wind-up were found, although the mechanical pain thresholds and pain sensitivity were comparable to those of the healthy controls. All the detection thresholds were within the normal range in all the groups. In depressive disorder, there were no significant side differences in the detection and pain thresholds. The results contradict the former assumption of a general insensitivity to experimental pain in depressive disorder. In the mostly pain-free patients signs of an enhanced central hyperexcitability are even more pronounced than usually found in chronic pain patients (e.g. FMS), indicating common mechanisms in depressive disorder and chronic pain in accordance with the assumption of non-pain associated mechanisms in depressive disorder for central hyperexcitability, e.g. by inhibited serotonergic function. Furthermore, this trial demonstrates the feasibility of QST in depressive patients.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
1872-6623
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
30
pubmed:volume
140
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
332-43
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Depression and changed pain perception: hints for a central disinhibition mechanism.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Pain Management, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Universitätsklinik Bergmannsheil GmbH, Ruhr University Bochum, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't