The opioid crisis has had a massive impact on American society, contributing to a lowering average life expectancy for three years in a row. All levels of society, from families and towns to the U.S. government, have been impacted. One of the factors that has led to the current crisis is the over-prescription of painkillers. In the past, pharmaceutical companies did not tell doctors that painkillers were addictive, so doctors over-prescribed painkillers in the interest of patient comfort. This practice is difficult to change due to the subjective nature of pain. There is currently no objective way of measuring pain, so doctors prescribe based on what their patients tell them. In order to better understand pain’s mechanisms, researchers from the Indiana University of Medicine studied bio-markers in the blood to look for ones that could predict pain.
Image source: Andrew Brookes
The researchers studied patients with pain disorders and took blood samples at times when the patients said they were experiencing low and high pain levels. They then extracted and sequenced RNA from the samples and compared them to search for similarities and differences in gene expression. The data was compared to databases of current known bio-markers to learn more about the substances that were similar across many patients. Once the most common substances were identified, they were used to predict the severity of pain in another group of patients, and whether or not they would require hospitalization. Ultimately, a bio-marker called MFAP3 had the strongest correlation with the pain sensation, especially in women and patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The connection between MFAP3 and pain has the potential to provide a more concrete way of measuring pain. However, further research is needed, as it is still unclear why MFAP3 correlates with pain. The results also may not represent the entire population, as the study’s sample consisted only of psychiatric patients, and mental state alters an individual’s pain experience. Ultimately, this research builds a greater understanding of one aspect of the opioid crisis, which is pain management. The development of a more objective, standardized guide for painkiller prescription may curb excess use and abuse of this addictive medication.
Feature Image Source: Emilian Danaila
