Toward Composite Pain Biomarkers of Neuropathic Pain-Focus on Peripheral Neuropathic Pain

Monica M Diaz; Jacob Caylor; Irina Strigo; Imanuel Lerman; Brook Henry; Eduardo Lopez; Mark S Wallace; Ronald J Ellis; Alan N Simmons; John R Keltner

doi:10.3389/fpain.2022.869215

Toward Composite Pain Biomarkers of Neuropathic Pain-Focus on Peripheral Neuropathic Pain

Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2022 May 11:3:869215. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2022.869215. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
² Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
³ Department of Psychiatry, San Francisco Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
⁵ Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, San Diego & Center of Excellence in Stress and Mental Health, Veteran Affairs Health Care System, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, San Diego & San Diego VA Medical Center, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.

Abstract

Chronic pain affects ~10-20% of the U.S. population with an estimated annual cost of $600 billion, the most significant economic cost of any disease to-date. Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain that is particularly difficult to manage and leads to significant disability and poor quality of life. Pain biomarkers offer the possibility to develop objective pain-related indicators that may help diagnose, treat, and improve the understanding of neuropathic pain pathophysiology. We review neuropathic pain mechanisms related to opiates, inflammation, and endocannabinoids with the objective of identifying composite biomarkers of neuropathic pain. In the literature, pain biomarkers typically are divided into physiological non-imaging pain biomarkers and brain imaging pain biomarkers. We review both types of biomarker types with the goal of identifying composite pain biomarkers that may improve recognition and treatment of neuropathic pain.

Keywords: biomarker; endocannabinoid; inflammation; neuropathic; opiate; pain.

Publication types

Review