Wahlbeck K, Sundblom M, Kalso E, Tigerstedt I, Rimón R
Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Biol Psychiatry. 1996 Nov 15;40(10):994-9. doi: 10.1016/0006-3223(95)00577-3.
The study was performed proceeding from the hypothesis that pain proneness in chronic pain disorder (CPD) is a result of alterations in central mechanisms regulating pain sensations. To elucidate the function of the central renin-angiotensin system, the levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood were measured in 15 CPD patients and 19 healthy controls. Plasma AVP levels (p = .01) as well as the serum osmolality (p = .01) were significantly higher in the CPD group. No significant differences in CSF ACE levels were found. AVP is a stress-related peptide, but central antinociceptive effects have also been reported. Elevated plasma AVP levels possibly may constitute a response to chronic stress.
