December, 2007

The recent review article by Luda and colleagues in the December issue of Trends in Genetics provides insight into the duality of pain perception as a complex trait with both adaptive (acute pain) and maladaptive responses (chronic pain) and discusses genetic components that have been identified as well as the evolutionary context that maintains chronic pain conditions.  The high prevalence of chronic pain disorders (15-20% worldwide) makes this an important and burgeoning field of study.  Recent data have identified mutations in specific sodium and calcium channels as the primary cause of some more common severe pain disorders, and yet less severe and more frequent disorders are likely caused by a combination of environmental factors and an array of genetic polymorphisms that have yet to be identified. Combining mouse models and human association studies to identify the genetic components of pain perception will open the door to novel individualized treatments, improving the efficacy of therapy which at present is severely lacking.

Link to the full article:  TIGS Review