Research on genes predisposing for chronic pain: a challenge for pain researchers in Scandinavia

Abstract 

Finding predisposing factors or vulnerability genes for chronic pain development would provide opportunities to tailor treatment for each patient. Such knowledge also pinpoints crucial functions required for the pathophysiological process. Both these outcomes are necessary for further improving chronic pain prevention and treatment.

Pain can be modulated by a myriad of processes including endogenous opioid production, inflammation and tissue repair, which can trigger synaptic plasticity both centrally and peripherally, affecting both excitatory and inhibitory signaling by neurons, as well as glial signaling contributing to these processes. The genetic foundation for this web of interactions should provide future drug targets for chronic pain prevention and treatment. As the body of data grows, with increased patient cohort sizes, and more standardized characterizations of the pain state, we can hope to identify many new gene candidates for treatment of chronic pain.

We are convinced that pain researchers in the Nordic countries have excellent possibilities for networking and cooperation, to carry out successful projects in the field of the genetics of pain. The “New Scandinavian Association for the Study of Pain” (newSASP) may provide an important facilitating arena to achieve this goal.

Keywords:  genetics , pain , pain mechanisms , pain treatment

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