Catecholamine and Indolamine Pathway: A Case–Control Study in Fibromyalgia

Abstract

These findings show evidence of the dysregulation of the catecholamine and indolamine pathway in patients with FM, which may contribute to the physiopathology of this syndrome. In addition, the determination of plasma norepinephrine levels could help in the FM diagnosis.

Are Patients With Fibromyalgia in a Prothrombotic State?

“…We drew the demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants from Rus, Molina, Del Moral, Ramírez-Expósito, and Martínez-Martos (2018). There were no statistically significant differences between the study groups by age (50 ± 8.28 years for the controls and 52.34 ± 7.82 years for the FM patients) or body mass index (24.07 ± 3.05 kg/m 2 for the controls and 26.14 ± 3.48 kg/m 2 for the FM patients).…”

“…All participants provided written informed consent. We used the same cohort of FM patients and controls who had participated in a previous study (Rus, Molina, Del Moral, Ramírez-Expósito, & Martínez-Martos, 2018). Participants in the present case-control study included 35 female patients diagnosed with FM, whom we contacted via AFIXA (Association of Fibromyalgia of Jaén, Spain), and 12 age-matched healthy women whom we recruited from the University of Jaén (Spain).…”

Assessment of retinal nerve fiber thickness and optic nerve head blood flow in female patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome

“…Catecholamines act as neurotransmitters in pathways that initiate and inhibit pain. It is believed that changes in catecholamine metabolism in FMS may cause clinical symptoms by both causing changes in pain sensation and impairment in autonomic dysfunction (23,24) . Several studies have reported reduced urinary catecholamine levels in patients with FMS (although contradictory results have also been reported), which may reflect the autonomic dysfunction in target organs (25,26) .…”

Metabolomic Differentials in Women With and Without Fibromyalgia

“…12,13 However, there have been inconsistencies in these findings with results from previous studies (i.e., plasma levels of various catecholamines have been increased, decreased, or unchanged). 14 Despite intensive research focusing on multiple biologically plausible markers to aid in the diagnosis and prognostication of disease activity in FM, further understanding of the biological perturbations is needed to better explain potential underlying mechanisms related to FM and to guide personalized health strategies for symptom management. Of the multi-omics that are driving precision health, metabolomics is an approach that quantifies the final products of various biological processes and holds promise as a method to holistically and accurately identify biomarkers that reflect upstream biological events, such as genetic mutations and environmental changes.…”

“…For example, researchers have suggested that chronic low‐grade systemic inflammation may contribute to both the initiation and maintenance of the centralized pain state, focusing their studies on peripheral blood markers in FM, including inflammatory cytokines . However, there have been inconsistencies in these findings with results from previous studies (i.e., plasma levels of various catecholamines have been increased, decreased, or unchanged) …”