Amrei Wittwer1, Peter Krummenacher2, Roberto La Marca3, Ulrike Ehlert3, Gerd Folkers4. 1. *Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland wittwer@collegium.ethz.ch. 2. *Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Brainability LLC, Zurich, Switzerland Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. 3. University of Zurich, Institute of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Zurich, Switzerland. 4. *Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Self-reports of pain are important for an adequate therapy. This is a problem with patients and infants who are restricted in providing an accurate verbal estimation of their pain. Reliable, real-time, economical, and non-invasive physiological correlates might contribute to a more comprehensive description of pain. Salivary alpha-amylase constitutes one candidate biomarker, which reflects predominantly sympathetic nervous system alterations under stressful conditions and can be measured non-invasively. The current study investigated the effects of acute heat pain on salivary alpha-amylase activity. METHODS: Heat pain tolerance was measured on the non-dominant forearm. Participants completed visual analog scales on pain intensity and unpleasantness. Saliva samples were collected directly after pain induction. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. RESULTS: While salivary alpha-amylase levels correlated positively with intensity and unpleasantness ratings in response to acute heat pain stimuli, there was no corresponding association with pain tolerance. CONCLUSIONS: Salivary alpha-amylase is suggested to be an indirect physiologic correlate of subjective heat pain perception. Future studies should address the role of salivary alpha-amylase depending on the origin of pain, the concerned tissue, and other pain assessment methods.
OBJECTIVE: Self-reports of pain are important for an adequate therapy. This is a problem with patients and infants who are restricted in providing an accurate verbal estimation of their pain. Reliable, real-time, economical, and non-invasive physiological correlates might contribute to a more comprehensive description of pain. Salivary alpha-amylase constitutes one candidate biomarker, which reflects predominantly sympathetic nervous system alterations under stressful conditions and can be measured non-invasively. The current study investigated the effects of acute heat pain on salivary alpha-amylase activity. METHODS: Heat pain tolerance was measured on the non-dominant forearm. Participants completed visual analog scales on pain intensity and unpleasantness. Saliva samples were collected directly after pain induction. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. RESULTS: While salivary alpha-amylase levels correlated positively with intensity and unpleasantness ratings in response to acute heat pain stimuli, there was no corresponding association with pain tolerance. CONCLUSIONS:Salivary alpha-amylase is suggested to be an indirect physiologic correlate of subjective heat pain perception. Future studies should address the role of salivary alpha-amylase depending on the origin of pain, the concerned tissue, and other pain assessment methods.
Authors: María Dolores Contreras-Aguilar; Damián Escribano; María Martín-Cuervo; Fernando Tecles; Jose Joaquín Cerón Journal: BMC Vet Res Date: 2018-05-10 Impact factor: 2.741