Multi-Omics Profiles of Chronic Low Back Pain and Fibromyalgia - Study Protocol.

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Genomics
• Pain Medicine

Background:

• Chronic low back pain (CLBP) and fibromyalgia (FM) are significant causes of disability and suffering.
• Current treatments lack specificity and validated biomarkers, hindering therapeutic development.
• Omics research offers potential for identifying disease mechanisms and biomarkers for CLBP and FM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify molecular pathways involved in the pathophysiology of CLBP and FM.
• To discover candidate diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic biomarkers for CLBP and FM.
• To shift research towards developing mechanism-specific therapeutics for chronic pain conditions.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study including 100 CLBP patients, 100 FM patients, and 200 pain-free controls.
• Comprehensive phenotyping including clinical characteristics, physical function, neuropathic pain assessment, and psychosocial factors.
• Multi-omics analysis (metabolomics, lipidomics, proteomics) of blood and urine samples, integrated with clinical data.

Main Results:

• Multi-omics data integration to identify common and distinct molecular pathways in CLBP and FM.
• Association of multi-omics profiles with clinical characteristics, physical function, and neuropathic pain indicators.
• Exploration of psychosocial variables as moderators in the multi-omics data analysis.

Conclusions:

• The study aims to provide a deeper understanding of the molecular underpinnings of CLBP and FM.
• Identification of potential therapeutic targets and candidate biomarkers for future validation.
• Emphasizes the importance of precise patient phenotyping due to the heterogeneity of CLBP and FM.