ArticleEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2021
3D magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging reveals links between brain metabolites and multidimensional pain features in fibromyalgia.
Article in European journal of pain (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chronic Ocular Surface Pain: A Missing Member of the Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions?Drugs · 2026Review
- Review
- Reevaluating fibromyalgia diagnosis: a proposal to integrate deep tendon reflex responses into current criteria.Rheumatology international · 2025Review
- Altered parasympathetic outflow and central sensitization response to continuous pain in cyclic vomiting syndrome: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology · 2025Article
- Neurometabolic signatures of gastrointestinal symptoms in the insula of Crohn's disease patients: explorative findings from a 7T MRS study.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Deciphering nociplastic pain: clinical features, risk factors and potential mechanisms.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2024Review
- Review
- Pain Biomarkers in Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Current Understanding and Future Directions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Topology of pain networks in patients with temporomandibular disorder and pain-free controls with and without concurrent experimental pain: A pilot study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFibromyalgia is a centralized multidimensional chronic pain syndrome, but its pathophysiology is not fully understood.
methodsWe applied 3D magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI), covering multiple cortical and subcortical brain regions, to investigate the association between neuro-metabolite (e.g. combined glutamate and glutamine, Glx; myo-inositol, mIno; and combined (total) N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate, tNAA) levels and multidimensional clinical/behavioural variables (e.g. pain catastrophizing, clinical pain severity and evoked pain sensitivity) in women with fibromyalgia (N = 87).
resultsPain catastrophizing scores were positively correlated with Glx and tNAA levels in insular cortex, and negatively correlated with mIno levels in posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Clinical pain severity was positively correlated with Glx levels in insula and PCC, and with tNAA levels in anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), but negatively correlated with mIno levels in aMCC and thalamus. Evoked pain sensitivity was negatively correlated with levels of tNAA in insular cortex, MCC, PCC and thalamus.
conclusionsThese findings support single voxel placement targeting nociceptive processing areas in prior SIGNIFICANCE: This large N study linked brain metabolites and pain features in fibromyalgia patients, with a better spatial resolution and brain coverage, to understand a molecular mechanism underlying pain catastrophizing and other aspects of pain transmission. Metabolite levels in self-referential cognitive processing area as well as pain-processing regions were associated with pain outcomes. These results could help the understanding of its pathophysiology and treatment strategies for clinicians.
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