# 5-HT3 & Fibromyalgia



## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

This was posted to the Co-Cure Emailing list:


> quote: The influence of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist tropisetron on pain infibromyalgia: a functional magnetic resonance imaging pilot study.Scand J Rheumatol Suppl. 2004(119):24-7.Koeppe C, Schneider C, Thieme K, Mense S, Stratz T, Muller W, Flor H.Department of Neuropsychology, University of Heidelberg, Central Instituteof Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.PMID: 15515408OBJECTIVE: Central pain processing is altered in patients with fibromyalgiasyndrome (FMS). The serotonin metabolism, especially the 5-HT3 receptor,seems to play an important role.METHODS: We investigated the effect of the local injection of the 5-HT3receptor antagonist tropisetron on the perception and central processing ofpain in FMS patients using painful mechanical stimulation and functionalmagnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) within the framework of apre-/posttreatment double-blind design.RESULTS: In the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex, contralateralposterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex, we found that theactivation was significantly reduced after treatment. On average, patientsrated the stimulation-induced pain intensity as stronger in the sessionafter treatment compared to before treatment, although the individual datarevealed a heterogeneous pattern. All patients showed sensitisation duringthe painful stimulation, which was not influenced by the treatment.CONCLUSIONS: Both the sensory-discriminative and motivational-affectivecomponents of pain as measured by fMRI were altered by tropisetron.


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