Electroacupuncture Pain Treatment, Mechanical Hyperalgesia, Quality of Life & Expression of Mu+ B Cells in Fibromyalgia

Summary

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex, multifactorial syndrome characterized by widespread chronic pain with hyperal- gesia and allodynia and a constellation of somatic and psychological manifestations, including fatigue, sleep dis- orders, depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal and cognitive disorders. FM is now recognized as one of the most common chronic pain conditions and its management remains a challenge for patients and healthcare profes- sionals. The fact that FM is associated with chronic pain without any obvious peripheral tissue damage has given rise to the concept of nociplastic pain with evidence of dysfunction in mono-aminergic neurotransmission, lead- ing to elevated levels of excitatory neurotransmitters and decreased levels of serotonin and norepinephrine in the spinal cord at the level of descending anti-nociceptive pathways. Additionally, dopamine dysregulation and altered activity of endogenous cerebral opioids have been observed in FM.

Recent European guidelines on FM treatment emphasize that there should be a comprehensive assessment of patient's pain, function and psychosocial context. It is recognized that there are profound and fundamental problems associated with the pain assessment tools in common use, as most of these represent an attempt to reduce a multidimensional experience to a coarse unidimensional measure. Use of multiple tools for sub- jective and objective assessment of pain may reflect more accurately patient's pain experience. Furthermore, tracing a biologic pain marker in FM patients would facilitate both the initial assessment of pain and the re- sponse to treatment. Management of pain in FM patients should focus first on non-pharmacological modalities. Acupuncture therapy is an effective and safe treatment and exerts its analgesic effect through activation of pe- ripheral and central pain control systems with the release of β-endorphins, enkephalins, dynorphins, serotonin, norepinephrine, γ-aminobutyric acid or ATP. The aim of our study is to assess initially reported pain and evaluate the effectiveness of electroacupuncture (with or without diet modifications) on the "whole experience of pain" in FM patients in a multimodel assessment frame.

Conditions

• Fibromyalgia
• Electroacupuncture
• Acupuncture
• Hyperalgesia

Interventions

OTHER

Electroacupuncture

Subjects will be administered electroacupuncture as described in the electroacupuncture group description

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Nutrition

Subjects will be administered the intervention described in the electroacupuncture nutrition and dietary supplement group description

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Dietary supplement

Subjects will be administered the intervention described in the electroacupuncture nutrition and dietary supplement group description

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital of Crete

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Crete

  lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-05-31

Primary Completion

2025-12-01

Completion

2026-12-01

Countries

• Greece

Study Locations