Differential Gene Expression in Pain-Related Genes are not Affected by the Presence of Dementia.
Elizabeth Galik, Barbara Resnick, Evelina Mocci and 3 others
PMID 38135606WHAT IT FOUND
In 20 older women with osteoarthritis, 96 blood genes differed between those with and without pain.
The analysis accounted for dementia, but the study did not test a pain biomarker for clinical use.
Key findings
0196 genes differed between participants with and without pain, and 58% had higher expression in participants with pain.
02Seventeen of the 96 genes had been listed in a database of pain-related genes.
03After the analysis accounted for dementia, three groups of genes with similar expression patterns were associated with pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 20 participants were studied, all women, all white, and most were college-educated, so the results may not apply to other older adults. Pain was measured by one current self-report item, and the authors say pain may have been missed in people with dementia. The paper reports gene-expression differences, not whether these genes can identify pain in a patient. The claim that dementia does not affect pain-related gene expression is stated by the authors, not shown as a separate result in the results section. The pain and no-pain groups differed in cognition and number of diagnoses, which makes interpretation harder.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that dementia does not affect pain-related gene expression or that a blood gene test can identify pain in people with dementia. This was a 20-participant pilot that measured gene expression differences between self-reported pain and no pain, and the authors say replication is needed.