Nedsat koncentration af beta-endorfin i spinalvaeske og nedsat smertetolerance ved funktionel dyspepsi

It was investigated whether central pain mechanisms including the endogenous antinociceptive system were involved in functional dyspepsia defined as: abdominal pain without abnormal findings. Pain sensitivity was measured by an ischaemic pain test comparing 21 functional dyspepsia patients with two control groups: 1) 24 patients with organic abdominal pain, and 2) 13 healthy pain-free controls. The endogenous opioids beta-endorphin, met-enkephalin immunoreactivity, and dynorphin immunoreactivity were measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from nine patients with functional dyspepsia and pain-free controls undergoing minor surgery while under spinal analgesia. There was no significant difference between the groups in pain sensitivity, but subdivision of the functional dyspepsia group showed that individuals with pain and no symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were significantly more sensitive to ischaemic pain than functional dyspepsia patients with IBS. The CSF beta-endorphfin concentration was significantly decreased in the functional dyspepsia group as compared with the controls. There were no significant group differences regarding met-enkephalin immunoreactivity and dynorphin immunoreactivity. Because of post-lumbar-puncture headache, this part of the investigation was suspended after nine patients. Functional dyspepsia is probably a pain syndrome with decreased central antinociceptive activity.