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Vetterlein A, Monzel M, Reuter M. Are catechol-O-methyltransferase gene polymorphisms genetic markers for pain sensitivity after all? - A review and meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 148:105112. [PMID: 36842714 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/28/2023]
Abstract
The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has arguably been the designated pain sensitivity gene for nearly two decades. However, the literature provides inconsistent evidence. We performed several meta-analyses including k = 31 samples and n = 4631 participants thereby revealing small effects of rs4680 on pain thresholds in fibromyalgia, headache and across chronic pain conditions. Moreover, rs4680 effects were found across pain patients when affected, but not unaffected, body sites were assessed. No effect was detected for any other SNP investigated. Importantly, our results corroborate earlier findings in that we found a small effect of COMT haplotypes on pain sensitivity. Our review and meta-analysis contribute to the understanding of COMT-dependent effects on pain perception, provide insights into research issues and offer future directions. The results support the theory that rs4680 might only impact behavioural measures of pain when descending pain modulatory pathways are sufficiently challenged. After all, COMT polymorphisms are genetic markers of pain sensitivity, albeit with some limitations which are discussed with respect to their implications for research and clinical significance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Merlin Monzel
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - Martin Reuter
- Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany; Center for Economics and Neuroscience (CENs), Laboratory of Neurogenetics, University of Bonn, Germany
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Cutoff criteria for the placebo response: a cluster and machine learning analysis of placebo analgesia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19205. [PMID: 34584181 PMCID: PMC8479132 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98874-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Computations of placebo effects are essential in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for separating the specific effects of treatments from unspecific effects associated with the therapeutic intervention. Thus, the identification of placebo responders is important for testing the efficacy of treatments and drugs. The present study uses data from an experimental study on placebo analgesia to suggest a statistical procedure to separate placebo responders from nonresponders and suggests cutoff values for when responses to placebo treatment are large enough to be separated from reported symptom changes in a no-treatment condition. Unsupervised cluster analysis was used to classify responders and nonresponders, and logistic regression implemented in machine learning was used to obtain cutoff values for placebo analgesic responses. The results showed that placebo responders can be statistically separated from nonresponders by cluster analysis and machine learning classification, and this procedure is potentially useful in other fields for the identification of responders to a treatment.
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Geers AL, Faasse K, Guevarra DA, Clemens KS, Helfer SG, Colagiuri B. Affect and emotions in placebo and nocebo effects: What do we know so far? SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew L. Geers
- Department of Psychology University of Toledo Toledo Ohio USA
| | - Kate Faasse
- School of Psychology University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Darwin A. Guevarra
- Department of Psychology Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
| | | | | | - Ben Colagiuri
- School of Psychology University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
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van Reij RR, Joosten EA, van den Hoogen NJ. Dopaminergic neurotransmission and genetic variation in chronification of post-surgical pain. Br J Anaesth 2019; 123:853-864. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2019.07.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Revised: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
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Colloca L, Wang Y, Martinez PE, Christy Chang YP, Ryan KA, Hodgkinson C, Goldman D, Dorsey SG. OPRM1 rs1799971, COMT rs4680, and FAAH rs324420 genes interact with placebo procedures to induce hypoalgesia. Pain 2019; 160:1824-1834. [PMID: 31335650 PMCID: PMC6668362 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Genetics studies on the placebo hypoalgesic effect highlight a promising link between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the dopamine, opioid, and endocannabinoid genes and placebo hypoalgesia. However, epistasis and replication studies are missing. In this study, we expanded on previous findings related to the 3 SNPs in the opioid receptor mu subunit (OPRM1 rs1799971), catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT rs4680), and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH rs324420) genes associated with placebo hypoalgesia and tested the effect of a 3-way interaction on placebo hypoalgesia. Using 2 well-established placebo procedures (verbal suggestion and learning paradigm), we induced significant placebo hypoalgesic effects in 160 healthy participants. We found that individuals with OPRM1 AA combined with FAAH Pro/Pro and those carrying COMT met/met together with FAAH Pro/Pro showed significant placebo effects. Participants with COMT met/val alleles showed significant placebo effects independently of OPRM1 and FAAH allele combinations. Finally, the model that included the placebo procedure and genotypes predicted placebo responsiveness with a higher accuracy (area under the curve, AUC = 0.773) as compared to the SNPs alone indicating that genetic variants can only partially explain the placebo responder status. Our results suggest that the endogenous mu-opioid system with a larger activation in response to pain in the met/val allele carriers as well as the synergism between endogenous mu-opioid system and cannabinoids might play the most relevant role in driving hypoalgesic responses. Future epistasis studies with larger sample sizes will help us to fully understand the complexity of placebo effects and explain the mechanisms that underlie placebo responsiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luana Colloca
- Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science, School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
- Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
- Center to Advance Chronic Pain Research, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
| | - Yang Wang
- Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science, School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
- Center to Advance Chronic Pain Research, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
| | | | | | | | - Colin Hodgkinson
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - David Goldman
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Susan G. Dorsey
- Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science, School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
- Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
- Center to Advance Chronic Pain Research, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA
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Hall KT, Loscalzo J, Kaptchuk TJ. Systems pharmacogenomics - gene, disease, drug and placebo interactions: a case study in COMT. Pharmacogenomics 2019; 20:529-551. [PMID: 31124409 PMCID: PMC6563236 DOI: 10.2217/pgs-2019-0001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Disease, drugs and the placebos used as comparators are inextricably linked in the methodology of the double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Nonetheless, pharmacogenomics, the study of how individuals respond to drugs based on genetic substrate, focuses primarily on the link between genes and drugs, while the link between genes and disease is often overlooked and the link between genes and placebos is largely ignored. Herein, we use the example of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase to examine the hypothesis that genes can function as pharmacogenomic hubs across system-wide regulatory processes that, if perturbed in andomized controlled trials, can have primary and combinatorial effects on drug and placebo responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn T Hall
- Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Joseph Loscalzo
- Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ted J Kaptchuk
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Program in Placebo Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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The opioid receptor mu 1 (OPRM1) rs1799971 and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 as genetic markers for placebo analgesia. Pain 2019; 159:2585-2592. [PMID: 30130297 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The placebo effect is considered the core example of mind-body interactions. However, individual differences produce large placebo response variability in both healthy volunteers and patients. The placebo response in pain, placebo analgesia, may be dependent on both the opioid system and the dopaminergic system. Previous studies suggest that genetic variability affects the function of these 2 systems. The aim of this study was therefore to address the interaction between the single nucleotide polymorphisms opioid receptor mu 1 (OPRM1) rs1799971 and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 on placebo analgesia. Two hundred ninety-six healthy volunteers participated in a repeated-measures experimental design where thermal heat pain stimuli were used as pain stimuli. Participants were randomized either to a placebo group receiving placebo cream together with information that the cream would reduce pain, or to a natural history group receiving the same pain stimuli as the placebo group without any application of cream or manipulation of expectation of pain levels. The results showed that the interaction between OPRM1 rs1799971 and COMT rs4680 was significantly associated with the placebo analgesic response. Participants with OPRM1 Asn/Asn combined with COMT Met/Met and Val/Met reported significant pain relief after placebo administration, whereas those with other combinations of the OPRM1 and COMT genotypes displayed no significant placebo effect. Neither OPRM1 nor COMT had any significant influence on affective changes after placebo administration. As shown in this study, genotyping with regard to OPRM1 and COMT may predict who will respond favorably to placebo analgesic treatment.
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Weimer K, Hahn E, Mönnikes N, Herr AK, Stengel A, Enck P. Are Individual Learning Experiences More Important Than Heritable Tendencies? A Pilot Twin Study on Placebo Analgesia. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:679. [PMID: 31620030 PMCID: PMC6759638 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: Predicting who will be a placebo responder is a prerequisite to maximize placebo effects in pain treatment and to minimize them in clinical trials. First evidence exists that genetics could affect placebo effects. However, a classical twin study to estimate the relative contribution of genetic influences compared to common and individual environmental influences in explaining interindividual differences in placebo responsiveness has yet not been performed. Methods: In a first explorative twin study, 25 monozygotic (MZ) and 14 dizygotic (DZ) healthy twin pairs (27.5 ± 7.7 years; 73% female) were conditioned to the efficacy of a placebo analgesic ointment with an established heat pain paradigm on their non-dominant arm. Placebo analgesia was then tested on their dominant arm. Furthermore, warmth detection thresholds (WDTs) and heat pain thresholds (HPTs) were assessed, and participants filled in questionnaires for the assessment of psychological traits such as depression, anxiety, optimism, pain catastrophizing, and sensitivity to reward and punishment. Their expectations were determined with a visual analog scale. Results: There was a small but significant placebo analgesic effect in both MZ and DZ twins. Estimates of heritability were moderate for WDT only but negligible for HPT, the conditioning response, and placebo analgesia. Common environment did not explain any variance, and the individual environment explained the largest parts. Therefore, the placebo analgesia response can be seen as influenced by individual learning experiences during the conditioning procedure, whereas other variables assessed were not associated. Conclusions: Compared to the individual learning experience, genetic influences seem to play a minor role in explaining variation in placebo analgesia in this experimental paradigm. However, our results are restricted to placebo effects through conditioning on pain in healthy volunteers and should be replicated in larger samples and in patients. Furthermore, potential gene-environment interactions should be further investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Weimer
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.,Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Hahn
- Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbruecken, Germany
| | - Nils Mönnikes
- Charité Center for Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Department for Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ann-Kathrin Herr
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas Stengel
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Charité Center for Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Department for Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Paul Enck
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Associations of catechol-O-methyltransferase (rs4680) single nucleotide polymorphisms with opioid use and dose among adults with chronic pain. Pain 2018; 160:263-268. [DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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