Disclosures: Naomi Lynn Gerber, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: To assess whether there are significant correlations between microanalytes and measures of asymmetry in motion or strength in people with myofascial pain.

Design: Correlational study with arbitrarily chosen clinical measures of myofascial pain.Setting : University laboratory.Participants : Convenience sample of 38 (25 F, 13 M), aged >18 years. Participants met criteria for myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) diagnosis.

Interventions: No interventions were used for this study as the objective is to examine the presence of a correlation between variables.

Main Outcome Measures: Degree of bilateral asymmetry (Asym) as a representation of presence of myofascial pain was observed through the following clinical measures: Cervical range of motion (CROM) shoulder bending (SB) and rotation; Shoulder range of motion (SROM) flexion, abduction, internal and external rotation (IR/ER); Cervical manual muscle testing (CMMT) SB and rotation; Shoulder manual muscle testing (SMMT) flexion, abduction, IR, ER. Microanalyte levels (pg/mL) were measured using Eliza and bioplex assays.

Results: Microanalytes were grouped according to function: Cytokines (IL-1b, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-7, IL-8, IL-13, IGF1, IGF2 bioplex), growth factors (VEGF, G-CSF, GM-CSF, MCP-1, MIP-1b), and neurotransmitters (DHEA, kynurenine, BDNF, dopamine, noradrenaline, NPY, acetylcholine). Significance for correlation was determined with p-values (≤0.05) via heat map between clinical and analyte measures: CROM Asym SB (IL-2, NPY); SRM Asym flexion (MIP-1b), Abduction (G-CSF), IR (IL-2), ER (IL-1b, IL-5, MCP-1, MIP-1b, dopamine, NPY); CMMT Asym SB (MIP-1b), Rotation (MIP-1b); SMMT Asym Flexion (GM-CSF, MCP-1), Abduction (GM-CSF, kynurenine), IR (Acetylcholine), ER (MIP-1b, NPY). 8/12 Asym measures correlated in the largest proportion with growth factors. 3/4 measures that correlated with neurotransmitters fell in the SMMT group.Conclusions: Heat map groupings identified correlations among a useful clinical assessment of asymmetry of movement and strength, often correlated with pain measures. These appear to cluster around analytes associated with pain and inflammatory cytokines, growth factors and some neuropeptides.

Level of Evidence: Level II

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/microanalytes-as-a-biological-signature-in-myofascial-pain-syndrome/