Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms

Małgorzata Urban-Kowalczyk,1 Justyna Pigońska,2 Janusz Śmigielski3 1Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland; 2Department of Neurology and Movement Disorders, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland; 3Depa...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Urban-Kowalczyk M, Pigońska J, Śmigielski J
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Dove Medical Press 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/e6ba1436f29d48a2b304e84ef167c01a
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
id oai:doaj.org-article:e6ba1436f29d48a2b304e84ef167c01a
record_format dspace
spelling oai:doaj.org-article:e6ba1436f29d48a2b304e84ef167c01a2021-12-02T02:16:08ZPain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms1178-2021https://doaj.org/article/e6ba1436f29d48a2b304e84ef167c01a2015-08-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.dovepress.com/pain-perception-in-schizophrenia-influence-ofnbspneuropeptides-cogniti-peer-reviewed-article-NDThttps://doaj.org/toc/1178-2021Małgorzata Urban-Kowalczyk,1 Justyna Pigońska,2 Janusz Śmigielski3 1Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland; 2Department of Neurology and Movement Disorders, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland; 3Department of Geriatrics, Healthy Ageing Research Centre (HARC), Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland Objectives: The causes and nature of insensitivity to pain in schizophrenia remain unknown. The role of endorphins and the association of cognitive dysfunction and negative symptoms are postulated.Methods: In this study, 43 patients with schizophrenia, five first-degree relatives, and 34 healthy controls were examined. Participants’ plasma concentrations of substance P, β-endorphin, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were assessed. In patients, the Trail-Making Test, the Color Reading Interference Test (Stroop test), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Negative Syndrome subscale (PANSS N) test were performed. We also evaluated pain threshold using nociceptive reflex (RTIII) testing.Results: The mean β-endorphin concentration was about 20% higher in patients than in healthy controls (P<0.05). CGRP concentrations were significantly higher in patients than in controls (5.34 ng/mL versus 4.16 ng/mL; P<0.01). Subjects treated with antipsychotic polytherapy had higher concentrations of CGRP than did patients treated with second-generation antipsychotic monotherapy (5.92 ng/mL versus 5.02 ng/mL; P<0.05). There were no correlations between any biochemical parameters and Trail-Making Test, Stroop test, and PANSS N scores. There were no differences in RTIII among study groups. Strong negative correlation (P<0.001) was found between PANSS N scores and subjective pain threshold on the right lower limb.Conclusion: The insensitivity to pain in schizophrenia is a complex phenomenon that is probably not related to changes in nociceptive pathways. Increase in β-endorphin level may be related to this issue, but it is uncertain if such concentration ensures analgesic effect. It is unknown if patients with schizophrenia in fact experience less pain. Cognitive impairment and excess negative symptoms may strongly influence the patient’s expression of pain. Keywords: schizophrenia, endorphin, substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide, working memory, negative symptomsUrban-Kowalczyk MPigońska JŚmigielski JDove Medical PressarticleNeurosciences. Biological psychiatry. NeuropsychiatryRC321-571Neurology. Diseases of the nervous systemRC346-429ENNeuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, Vol 2015, Iss default, Pp 2023-2031 (2015)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
RC321-571
Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system
RC346-429
spellingShingle Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
RC321-571
Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system
RC346-429
Urban-Kowalczyk M
Pigońska J
Śmigielski J
Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
description Małgorzata Urban-Kowalczyk,1 Justyna Pigońska,2 Janusz Śmigielski3 1Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland; 2Department of Neurology and Movement Disorders, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland; 3Department of Geriatrics, Healthy Ageing Research Centre (HARC), Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland Objectives: The causes and nature of insensitivity to pain in schizophrenia remain unknown. The role of endorphins and the association of cognitive dysfunction and negative symptoms are postulated.Methods: In this study, 43 patients with schizophrenia, five first-degree relatives, and 34 healthy controls were examined. Participants’ plasma concentrations of substance P, β-endorphin, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were assessed. In patients, the Trail-Making Test, the Color Reading Interference Test (Stroop test), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Negative Syndrome subscale (PANSS N) test were performed. We also evaluated pain threshold using nociceptive reflex (RTIII) testing.Results: The mean β-endorphin concentration was about 20% higher in patients than in healthy controls (P<0.05). CGRP concentrations were significantly higher in patients than in controls (5.34 ng/mL versus 4.16 ng/mL; P<0.01). Subjects treated with antipsychotic polytherapy had higher concentrations of CGRP than did patients treated with second-generation antipsychotic monotherapy (5.92 ng/mL versus 5.02 ng/mL; P<0.05). There were no correlations between any biochemical parameters and Trail-Making Test, Stroop test, and PANSS N scores. There were no differences in RTIII among study groups. Strong negative correlation (P<0.001) was found between PANSS N scores and subjective pain threshold on the right lower limb.Conclusion: The insensitivity to pain in schizophrenia is a complex phenomenon that is probably not related to changes in nociceptive pathways. Increase in β-endorphin level may be related to this issue, but it is uncertain if such concentration ensures analgesic effect. It is unknown if patients with schizophrenia in fact experience less pain. Cognitive impairment and excess negative symptoms may strongly influence the patient’s expression of pain. Keywords: schizophrenia, endorphin, substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide, working memory, negative symptoms
format article
author Urban-Kowalczyk M
Pigońska J
Śmigielski J
author_facet Urban-Kowalczyk M
Pigońska J
Śmigielski J
author_sort Urban-Kowalczyk M
title Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
title_short Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
title_full Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
title_fullStr Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
title_full_unstemmed Pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
title_sort pain perception in schizophrenia: influence of neuropeptides, cognitive disorders, and negative symptoms
publisher Dove Medical Press
publishDate 2015
url https://doaj.org/article/e6ba1436f29d48a2b304e84ef167c01a
work_keys_str_mv AT urbankowalczykm painperceptioninschizophreniainfluenceofnbspneuropeptidescognitivedisordersandnegativesymptoms
AT pigonskaj painperceptioninschizophreniainfluenceofnbspneuropeptidescognitivedisordersandnegativesymptoms
AT smigielskij painperceptioninschizophreniainfluenceofnbspneuropeptidescognitivedisordersandnegativesymptoms
_version_ 1718402627077668864