Identification of generalized inflammation in the brain
These research teams from Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston) and Karolinska Institutet (Solna, Sweden) identify, with this imaging study (PET) a generalized inflammation in the brain of patients with fibromyalgia. By thus documenting, for the first time, in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, the generalized inflammation of the brain in fibromyalgia patients, these scientists definitively dispel the false belief of “imaginary symptoms”. Moreover, while there is currently no satisfactory treatment option for fibromyalgia, it is a potential therapeutic target that has just been identified.
Fibromyalgia is characterized by symptoms such as widespread chronic pain, sleep problems, fatigue, trouble thinking and memory. Previous research by the Karolinska team, already led by Dr. Eva Kosek, lead author of the new study, had suggested the possible role of neuroinflammation, particularly elevated levels of inflammatory proteins in cerebrospinal fluid, in patients with fibromyalgia. The new study highlights, via MRI/PET, areas of the brain in which patients with fibromyalgia show greater glial activation than controls .
Widespread glial overactivation in the brain:
The results show that glial activation in several areas of the brain of fibromyalgia patients is significantly greater than in controls. These zones of activation, widespread in the brain correspond to the more complex symptoms of fibromyalgia. This type of activation seen in the cingulate gyrus, an area involved in processing emotions, appears to correlate with chronic fatigue syndrome – according to patient-reported levels of fatigue. Finally, microglia appear to be primarily responsible for the increase in neuroinflammation in patients with fibromyalgia.
Activation of glial cells releases inflammatory mediators that sensitize pain pathways and contribute to symptoms such as fatigue, the researchers conclude.
A big step, therefore, in understanding the disease and its multiple symptoms.
