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Query: UMLS:C0030193 (pain)
 261,466 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Converging preclinical, and human epidemiological, neuroimaging, and genetic evidence suggests a central role for dopamine neurotransmission in modulating pain perception and analgesia. Dysregulation in dopamine signaling may modulate the experience of pain both directly, by enhancing or diminishing the propagation of nociceptive signals, and indirectly, by influencing affective and cognitive processes, which affect the expectation, experience, and interpretation of nociceptive signals. Hypersensitivity to pain and high rates of comorbid chronic pain are common in disorders linked with deficits in dopamine system function, including disorders of mood and affect, substance abuse, and Parkinson disease. Hyposensitivity to pain, however, is common in patients with schizophrenia, which has been linked with excessive dopamine neurotransmission. Although patients are typically affected most by the primary symptoms of their disorders, alterations in pain perception may further increase the burden of their illness, compromising their quality of life. The present review focuses on this relationship, and discusses clinical and potential therapeutic implications for both patients with dopamine-related disorders and those with chronic pain syndromes.
Pain 2012 Apr
PMID:Pain, affective symptoms, and cognitive deficits in patients with cerebral dopamine dysfunction. 2238 71

Cryolipolysis is a noninvasive, skin cooling treatment for local fat reduction that causes prolonged hypoesthesia over the treated area. We tested the hypothesis that cryolipolysis can attenuate nociception of a range of sensory stimuli, including stimuli that evoke itch. The effects of cryolipolysis on sensory phenomena were evaluated by quantitative sensory testing (QST) in 11 healthy subjects over a period of 56 days. Mechanical and thermal pain thresholds were measured on treated and contralateral untreated (control) flanks. Itch duration was evaluated following histamine iontophoresis. Unmyelinated epidermal nerve fiber and myelinated dermal nerve fiber densities were quantified in skin biopsies from six subjects. Cryolipolysis produced a marked decrease in mechanical and thermal pain sensitivity. Hyposensitivity started between two to seven days after cryolipolysis and persisted for at least thirty-five days post treatment. Skin biopsies revealed that cryolipolysis decreased epidermal nerve fiber density, as well as dermal myelinated nerve fiber density, which persisted throughout the study. In conclusion, cryolipolysis causes significant and prolonged decreases in cutaneous sensitivity. Our data suggest that controlled skin cooling to specifically target cutaneous nerve fibers has the potential to be useful for prolonged relief of cutaneous pain and might have a use as a research tool to isolate and study cutaneous itch-sensing nerves in human skin.
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PMID:Transient Alterations of Cutaneous Sensory Nerve Function by Noninvasive Cryolipolysis. 2609 28