Agoalikum Elijah, Wu Hongzhou, Klugah-Brown Benjamin, Maes Michael
Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610072, China.
Key Laboratory of Psychosomatic Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, 610072, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 20;15(1):17446. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-01070-7.
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition that predominantly affects women. Evidence implies that FM is associated with dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we investigated the structural differences between FM patients and healthy control (HC) subjects using a multivariate approach. Source-based morphometry (SBM) was applied to structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data consisting of 20 FM patients (46.4 ± 12.5), and age and gender-matched 20 HC subjects (42.1 ± 12.5). SBM revealed greater grey matter volume (GMV) in the bilateral thalamus in FM patients. Conversely, lower GMV was found in the bilateral putamen, bilateral pallidum, right cerebellum, right calcarine, right amygdala, and bilateral insula in FM patients. Further analysis indicated that grey matter deficits in the pallidum were significantly associated with pain catastrophizing, pain magnification, rumination, and feelings of helplessness, suggesting a link between structural brain changes and clinical pain metrics. These findings provide new insights into the neurobiological underpinnings of FM, highlighting the role of specific brain regions in pain processing and emotional regulation. The results underscore the potential for targeted therapeutic interventions that address both the neurobiological and psychological aspects of FM, paving the way for more effective management strategies for this complex condition.
纤维肌痛（FM）是一种主要影响女性的慢性疼痛病症。有证据表明，FM与中枢神经系统（CNS）功能障碍有关。在本研究中，我们采用多变量方法研究了FM患者与健康对照（HC）受试者之间的结构差异。基于源的形态计量学（SBM）应用于由20名FM患者（46.4±12.5）以及年龄和性别匹配的20名HC受试者（42.1±12.5）组成的结构磁共振成像（sMRI）数据。SBM显示FM患者双侧丘脑的灰质体积（GMV）更大。相反，在FM患者的双侧壳核、双侧苍白球、右侧小脑、右侧距状裂、右侧杏仁核和双侧脑岛中发现GMV较低。进一步分析表明，苍白球的灰质缺陷与疼痛灾难化、疼痛放大、反刍和无助感显著相关，这表明大脑结构变化与临床疼痛指标之间存在联系。这些发现为FM的神经生物学基础提供了新的见解，突出了特定脑区在疼痛处理和情绪调节中的作用。结果强调了针对FM的神经生物学和心理方面的靶向治疗干预的潜力，为这种复杂病症的更有效管理策略铺平了道路。
