Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2014
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Immunology Research
DOI
10.1155/2014/938576
Date of Submission
August 2014
Abstract
Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a chronic pain syndrome with a complex but poorly understood pathogenesis affecting approximately 10 million adults in the United States. The lack of a clear etiology of FMS has limited the effective diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating condition. The objective of this secondary data analysis was to examine plasma cytokine levels in women with FMS using the Bio-Plex Human Cytokine 17-plex Assay. Post hoc analysis of plasma cytokine levels was performed to evaluate patterns that were not specified a priori. Upon examination, patients with FMS exhibited a marked reduction in cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13. The finding of this pattern of altered cytokine milieu not only supports the role of inflammation in FMS but also may lead to more definitive diagnostic tools for clinicians treating FMS. The suppression provides strong evidence of immune dysregulation in patients with FMS.
Rights
Copyright © 2014 Jamie Sturgill et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Is Part Of
VCU School of Nursing Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/938576