Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions And Nociplastic Pain

The study "Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions and Nociplastic Pain" investigates the genetic factors associated with nociplastic type pain, a common characteristic in Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs). Using GenomicSEM common-factor genome wide association study (GWAS) and multivariate transcriptome-wide association (TWAS) analyses on existing GWAS data for six COPCs, the researchers identified 24 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 127 unique genes significantly associated with nociplastic type pain. The study also found nociplastic type pain to be a polygenic trait with significant SNP-heritability. There was a significant genetic overlap between multisite chronic pain and nociplastic type pain, and to a lesser extent with rheumatoid arthritis. Tissue enrichment analyses highlighted cardiac and thyroid tissue, and gene set enrichment analyses emphasized potential shared mechanisms in cognitive, personality, and metabolic traits and nociplastic type pain along with distinct pathology in migraine and headache. The study concludes that nociplastic type pain is a complex, heritable trait, and contributes to the understanding of potential mechanisms in the development of nociplastic pain.