The impact of Micro RNA-320a serum level on severity of symptoms and cerebral processing of pain in patients with fibromyalgia, 2022, Hussein et al

Abstract

Objectives
The aim of this work was to explore the expression of miR-320a level in fibromyalgia patients in comparison to healthy controls, and to clarify its impact on the severity of symptoms and the cerebral processing of pain assessed by middle latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs).

Design
Case-control study

Setting
Rheumatology and Neurology outpatient clinics

Subjects
Seventy-four fibromyalgia patients and seventy-four normal healthy controls.

Methods
The included patients were subjected to detailed history taking, assessment of severity of fibromyalgia symptoms using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Revised (FIQR), assessment of pain intensity using the Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI), measurement of the serum level of miR-320a in addition to of measurement peak latencies and amplitudes of middle latency SSEPs.

Results
Fibromyalgia patients had significantly higher micro-RNA-320a levels (0.907 ± 0.022) in comparison to controls (0.874 ± 0.015) (P-value < 0.001). The mean values of micro-RNA-320a levels were significantly higher in fibromyalgia patients with insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, persistent depressive disorder, and primary headache disorder than those without (P-value = 0.024, <0.001, 0.006, 0.036 respectively). There were statistically significant positive correlations between micro-RNA-320a levels, and disease duration, FIQR and NPSI total scores (P-value <0.001, 0.003, 0.002 respectively). There were no statistically significant correlations between micro-RNA-320a levels and middle latency SSEPs.

Discussion
Micro-RNA-320a level is significantly upregulated in fibromyalgia patient. It has a crucial impact on the severity of symptoms but not related to the cerebral processing of pain.

Paywall, https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/pm/pnac076/6588687