ArticleBrain : a journal of neurology2015
Evidence for brain glial activation in chronic pain patients.
Article in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03106740 (Imaging Glia-mediated NeuroInflammation and Treatment Efficacy), which is not on this map. Cited by 274 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Imaging Glia-mediated NeuroInflammation and Treatment Efficacy (the IGNITE Study)
Who cites it
274 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 485 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sexually Dimorphic Neuroimmune Pathways in Chronic Pain: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms.Biomolecules · 2026Pooled it
- The potential impact of exercise on affect and neuroinflammation in older adults living with fibromyalgia: a scoping review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- PET neuroimaging reveals histone deacetylase dysregulation in schizophrenia.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2019Trial
- Multimodal approach to identify neuropsychophysiological subgroups in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and their relevance for rehabilitation: protocol for a mechanistic cross-sectional and longitudinal study.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Glial cells in neuropathic pain.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Minocycline inhibits somatic hyperalgesia induced by malocclusion through up-regulating spinal IL-10 expression in female rats.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- [Advances in innate immune-mediated neuroinflammatory mechanisms of migraine].Zhejiang da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Zhejiang University. Medical sciences · 2026Review
- The Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Glia in Animal Models of Chronic Orofacial Pain: A Systematic Review.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026Review
- Towards a Whole-Body Assessment of Pain Using the 18 kDa Translocator Protein (TSPO) as a Broad-Spectrum Imaging Marker of Inflammation.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Review
- Modulation of Mu-Opioid Receptor Expression and Functional Impairment of Natural Killer Cells in Neuropathic Pain: Implications for Biomarker Discovery and Personalized Therapies.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Influence of ginger root extract supplementation on the microbiota-gut-brain axis in individuals with sciatica: Study protocol for a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2026Article
- Viscoelastic and Morphologic Changes in the Lumbar Intervertebral Discs of the 5xFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.JOR spine · 2026Article
- Early Changes in Resting-State Connectivity of the Anterior Insular Cortex Are Associated with Reductions in Pain and Catastrophizing After Total Hip Arthroplasty in Female Patients: A Preliminary Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Digital Phenotyping of Pain Modulation and Associations Among Personality, Attachment, and Behavioral Signatures: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Distress is positively associated with induced secondary hyperalgesia in people with suppressed HIV.The journal of pain · 2026Article
- Brain-immune correlates of quality of life in adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- Article
214 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Although substantial evidence has established that microglia and astrocytes play a key role in the establishment and maintenance of persistent pain in animal models, the role of glial cells in human pain disorders remains unknown. Here, using the novel technology of integrated positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging and the recently developed radioligand (11)C-PBR28, we show increased brain levels of the translocator protein (TSPO), a marker of glial activation, in patients with chronic low back pain. As the Ala147Thr polymorphism in the TSPO gene affects binding affinity for (11)C-PBR28, nine patient-control pairs were identified from a larger sample of subjects screened and genotyped, and compared in a matched-pairs design, in which each patient was matched to a TSPO polymorphism-, age- and sex-matched control subject (seven Ala/Ala and two Ala/Thr, five males and four females in each group; median age difference: 1 year; age range: 29-63 for patients and 28-65 for controls). Standardized uptake values normalized to whole brain were significantly higher in patients than controls in multiple brain regions, including thalamus and the putative somatosensory representations of the lumbar spine and leg. The thalamic levels of TSPO were negatively correlated with clinical pain and circulating levels of the proinflammatory citokine interleukin-6, suggesting that TSPO expression exerts pain-protective/anti-inflammatory effects in humans, as predicted by animal studies. Given the putative role of activated glia in the establishment and or maintenance of persistent pain, the present findings offer clinical implications that may serve to guide future studies of the pathophysiology and management of a variety of persistent pain conditions.
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Registered trials
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.