International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Department of Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 5;10(1):19218. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76263-3.
To understand neurochemical brain responses to pain, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) is used in humans in vivo to examine various metabolites. Recent MRS investigations have adopted a functional approach, where acquisitions of MRS are performed over time to track task-related changes. Previous studies suggest glutamate is of primary interest, as it may play a role during cortical processing of noxious stimuli. The objective of this study was to examine the metabolic effect (i.e., glutamate) in the anterior cingulate cortex during noxious stimulation using fMRS. The analysis addressed changes in glutamate and glutamate + glutamine (Glx) associated with the onset of pain, and the degree by which fluctuations in metabolites corresponded with continuous pain outcomes. Results suggest healthy participants undergoing tonic noxious stimulation demonstrated increased concentrations of glutamate and Glx at the onset of pain. Subsequent reports of pain were not accompanied by corresponding changes in glutamate of Glx concentrations. An exploratory analysis on sex revealed large effect size changes in glutamate at pain onset in female participants, compared with medium-sized effects in male participants. We propose a role for glutamate in the ACC related to the detection of a noxious stimulus.
为了理解疼痛的神经化学脑反应，质子磁共振波谱（H-MRS）被用于人体体内，以检查各种代谢物。最近的 MRS 研究采用了一种功能方法，即随着时间的推移进行 MRS 采集，以跟踪与任务相关的变化。先前的研究表明谷氨酸是主要关注点，因为它可能在皮质处理有害刺激时发挥作用。本研究的目的是使用 fMRS 检查在前扣带皮层中有害刺激期间的代谢效应（即谷氨酸）。该分析解决了与疼痛发作相关的谷氨酸和谷氨酸+谷氨酰胺（Glx）的变化，以及代谢物波动与连续疼痛结果的对应程度。结果表明，接受持续有害刺激的健康参与者在疼痛发作时表现出谷氨酸和 Glx 浓度的增加。随后报告的疼痛并没有伴随着谷氨酸和 Glx 浓度的相应变化。对性别进行的探索性分析表明，与男性参与者的中等到大型效应相比，女性参与者在疼痛发作时谷氨酸的效应大小变化较大。我们提出谷氨酸在前扣带皮层中与有害刺激的检测有关。
