Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24343288›Full record

ArticleAnesthesiology2013

Effect of catechol-o-methyltransferase-gene (COMT) variants on experimental and acute postoperative pain in 1,000 women undergoing surgery for breast cancer.

Oleg Kambur, Mari A Kaunisto, Emmi Tikkanen, Suzanne M Leal, Samuli Ripatti, Eija A Kalso

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Anesthesiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Systematic review of genetic polymorphisms associated with psychoneurological symptoms in breast cancer survivors.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2019
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Association of COMT rs4680 Genotype With Chronic Neuropathic Pain Experience in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · 2025
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Observational
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Association of ADRB1 gene polymorphisms with pain sensitivity in a Chinese population.International journal of clinical and experimental medicine · 2015
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Is the experience of thermal pain genetics dependent?BioMed research international · 2015
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Oleg Kambur* Student, Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland, and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. † Senior Researcher, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, and Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center. ‡ Student, ‖ Professor, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, and Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare. § Professor, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. # Professor, Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital.
Mari A Kaunisto
Emmi Tikkanen
Suzanne M Leal
Samuli Ripatti
Eija A Kalso
University Health Care System · US

Funding

UW Center for Mendelian GenomicsU54HG006493 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI BAMSHAD, MICHAEL JOSEPH, NICKERSON, DEBORAH A · 2012 to 2015
$20.0M
UW Center for Mendelian GenomicsUM1HG006493 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI BAMSHAD, MICHAEL JOSEPH, LEAL, SUZANNE M · 2016 to 2020
$15.3M
NHGRI NIH HHS UM1 HG006493
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCatechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) metabolizes catecholamines in different tissues. Polymorphisms in COMT gene can attenuate COMT activity and increase sensitivity to pain. Human studies exploring the effect of COMT polymorphisms on pain sensitivity have mostly included small, heterogeneous samples and have ignored several important single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This study examines the effect of COMT polymorphisms on experimental and postoperative pain phenotypes in a large ethnically homogeneous female patient cohort.

methodsIntensity of cold (+2-4°C) and heat (+48°C) pain and tolerance to cold pain were assessed in 1,000 patients scheduled for breast cancer surgery. Acute postoperative pain and oxycodone requirements were recorded. Twenty-two COMT SNPs were genotyped and their association with six pain phenotypes analyzed with linear regression.

resultsThere was no association between any of the tested pain phenotypes and SNP rs4680. The strongest association signals were seen between rs165774 and heat pain intensity as well as rs887200 and cold pain intensity. In both cases, minor allele carriers reported less pain. Neither of these results remained significant after strict multiple testing corrections. When analyzed further, the effect of rs887200 was, however, shown to be significant and consistent throughout the cold pressure test. No evidence of association between the SNPs and postoperative oxycodone consumption was found.

conclusionsSNPs rs887200 and rs165774 located in the untranslated regions of the gene had the strongest effects on pain sensitivity. Their effect on pain is described here for the first time. These results should be confirmed in further studies and the potential functional mechanisms of the variants studied.

Indexed as

Acute PainAdultAgedAnalgesics, OpioidAnesthesiaBreast NeoplasmsCatechol O-MethyltransferaseCold TemperatureDatabases, GeneticFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGenetic VariationGenome-Wide Association StudyGenotypeHaplotypesHot TemperatureAnalgesics, OpioidCatechol O-MethyltransferaseOxycodone

Identifiers

PMID24343288
PMCPMC4869072
OpenAlexW2029848573

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.