Opioids 'are ineffective at dealing with pain in fibromyalgia patients'
Researchers have suggested that opioids are ineffective for people with fibromyalgia because the disease also reduces receptor activity in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals.
A team from the University of Michigan published their findings in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The study features 17 women with the disease and 17 healthy controls. The majority (ten) of the fibromyalgia patients were taking antidepressant medication at the start of the study.
PET scans were then used with a selective-opioid receptor radiotracer to assess receptor availability differences between fibromyalgia patients and the healthy control group.
The team found that the fibromyalgia patients showed significantly less opioid receptor-binding potential than the healthy group.
In particular, the fibromyalgia group showed significantly less opioid receptor availability in four specific regions of the brain.
Dr Richard Harris and the team explained that these regions of the brain had all been previously noted to play a role in system by which the body transmits pain signals along the spine.
"These results suggest that in fibromyalgia patients the affective quality of pain is associated with reduced-opioid receptor availability throughout the brain regions commonly associated with pain modulation," the team concluded.
The Arthritis Research Campaign is holding a two-day symposium on different types of pain and how to treat them more effectively in November.
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