ArticleSleep2023
Alterations of pain pathways by experimental sleep disturbances in humans: central pain-inhibitory, cyclooxygenase, and endocannabinoid pathways.
Article in Sleep, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02484742 (Pain Sensitization and Habituation in a Model of Experimentally-induced Insomnia Symptoms), which is not on this map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
Pain Sensitization and Habituation in a Model of Experimentally-induced Insomnia Symptoms
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review/meta-analysis on the role of CB1R regulation in sleep-wake cycle in rats.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2024Pooled it
- The Effect of Low-Dose Acetylsalicylic Acid on Cellular Immune Responses to Experimental Sleep Restriction in Healthy Humans.Neuroimmunomodulation · 2026Trial
- Effects of low-dose acetylsalicylic acid on the inflammatory response to experimental sleep restriction in healthy humans.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Trial
- Chronic joint pain drives sex-specific changes in hippocampal glutamatergic signaling and sleep.npj biomedical innovations · 2026Article
- Review
- The effect of pre-existing sleep disturbance on T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants, pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving mediators, and glucocorticoid sensitivity in Long COVID.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Inflammatory Cytokine-Mediated Interactions Between Pain and Insomnia: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Association between BDNF/CB1R expression and postoperative pain and recovery in patients with preoperative sleep disorders.BMC anesthesiology · 2025Article
- The interplay of sleep disorders and orofacial pain: A systematic review.Journal of clinical and experimental dentistry · 2025Review
- Article
- Painful Mondays: Exploring Weekly Sleep Variations and Pain Perception in Healthy Women-An Experimental Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- The associations between sleep problems and pain outcomes in people with hand osteoarthritis - Data from the Nor-hand study.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2025Article
- Study on the mechanism of Gastrodiae Rhizoma, Lycii Fructus, and Ziziphi Spinosae Semen in sedation and tranquillising mind.Molecular diversity · 2024Article
- Clinical Phenotypes Supporting the Relationship Between Sleep Disturbance and Impairment of Placebo Effects.The journal of pain · 2024Article
- Prolonged experimental sleep disturbance affects the inflammatory resolution pathways in healthy humans.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
- Left nucleus accumbens volume is associated with poor sleep in hip osteoarthritis.Neurobiology of pain (Cambridge, Mass.)Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
objectivesThere is strong evidence that sleep disturbances are an independent risk factor for the development of chronic pain conditions. The mechanisms underlying this association, however, are still not well understood. We examined the effect of experimental sleep disturbances (ESDs) on three pathways involved in pain initiation/resolution: (1) the central pain-inhibitory pathway, (2) the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway, and (3) the endocannabinoid (eCB) pathway.
methodsTwenty-four healthy participants (50% females) underwent two 19-day long in-laboratory protocols in randomized order: (1) an ESD protocol consisting of repeated nights of short and disrupted sleep with intermittent recovery sleep; and (2) a sleep control protocol consisting of nights with an 8-hour sleep opportunity. Pain inhibition (conditioned pain modulation, habituation to repeated pain), COX-2 expression at monocyte level (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]-stimulated and spontaneous), and eCBs (arachidonoylethanolamine, 2-arachidonoylglycerol, docosahexaenoylethanolamide [DHEA], eicosapentaenoylethanolamide, docosatetraenoylethanolamide) were measured every other day throughout the protocol.
resultsThe central pain-inhibitory pathway was compromised by sleep disturbances in females, but not in males (p < 0.05 condition × sex effect). The COX-2 pathway (LPS-stimulated) was activated by sleep disturbances (p < 0.05 condition effect), and this effect was exclusively driven by males (p < 0.05 condition × sex effect). With respect to the eCB pathway, DHEA was higher (p < 0.05 condition effect) in the sleep disturbance compared to the control condition, without sex-differential effects on any eCBs.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that central pain-inhibitory and COX mechanisms through which sleep disturbances may contribute to chronic pain risk are sex specific, implicating the need for sex-differential therapeutic targets to effectively reduce chronic pain associated with sleep disturbances in both sexes. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: NCT02484742: Pain Sensitization and Habituation in a Model of Experimentally-induced Insomnia Symptoms. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02484742.
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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.