Substance P in CSF of patients with chronic pain syndromes

Abstract

Immunoreactive substance P was determined in lumbar CSF of 35 healthy volunteers and 60 patients with chronic pain syndromes of at least 6 months duration. No significant relationships were found between substance P levels and age, sex or body height. Substance P levels were lower in chronic pain patients, with either neurogenic (n = 23) or idiopathic pain (n = 37) syndromes, than in the healthy volunteers. Substance P levels were especially low in patients with neurogenic pain with lesions involving the extremities and in those with polyneuropathy, while patients with central pain or pain of the head or face had higher values. Substance P levels were related to depressive symptomatology as determined by means of visual analogue scales and to stable personality traits as determined by means of the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP). The most consistent (and inverse) relationship was found between substance P levels and the symptom 'inner tension' and between substance P levels and the personality trait 'psychic anxiety.'

Gender and age affect NK1 receptors in the human brain – a positron emission tomography study with [18F]SPA-RQ

“…Previous human studies report no gender differences in SP cerebrospinal fluid concentrations or in NK1R binding in post-mortem brain studies (Almay et al, 1988 ;Burnet and Harrison, 2000 ;Carletti et al, 2005). In contrast to our hypothesis, our data on NK1R binding shows that on average women have generally lower brain NK1R-BP compared to men.…”

Perception of gastro-oesophageal reflux

“…This facilitation is triggered by the pre-synaptic release of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators such as glutamate [23,24], substance P [25,26], brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) [27] and prostaglandins [28,29]. These neurotransmitters and neuromodulators activate ligand-gated ion channels (NMDA-receptor-glutamate) [26], metabotrophic receptors (metabotrophic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-glutamate and NK1-substance P [30]) and tyrosine kinase receptors (Tyrosine Kinase (Trk) B-BDNF [27]) and increase intracellular calcium via release from intracellular stores and calcium inflow [20] (Fig. 1).…”

Regional versus generalized muscle pain syndromes

“…An earlier report [77] indicated that substance P was lower than normal in a variety of chronic painful conditions such as low back pain. In two studies, cerebrospinal fluid substance P was lower than normal in diseases involving idiopathic pain [78] and in chronic neurogenic pain syndromes, including diabetic neuropathy [79]. Finally, both cerebrospinal fluid substance P and cerebrospinal fluid met-enkephalin were normal in chronic pain patients [80].…”