The Interleukin-1[alpha] Gene C>T Polymorphism rs1800587 is associated with increased pain intensity and decreased pressure pain thresholds in patients with lumbar radicular pain

Objectives: Previous studies have suggested that many inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1a, may be associated
with lumbar radicular pain after disk herniation. In the present
study, we examined how variability of the IL-1a gene affects pain
intensity and the pressure pain threshold (PPT) in patients with
symptomatic disk herniation.
Materials and Methods: A total of 121 patients with lumbar radicular pain due to disk herniation were recruited from Oslo University Hospital, Norway, and followed up at 6 weeks and 12
months. The primary outcome measures were pain intensity scores
for the lower back and legs using a visual analog pain scale (VAS)
and PPT for the gluteal muscles. Genotyping was carried out using
a predesigned TaqMan assay for IL-1a rs1800587. The effect of the
IL-1a genotype on the VAS and PPT was analyzed by repeated
measure analyses of variance.
Results: The IL-1a gene C> T polymorphism rs1800587 affected
VAS and PPT scores in patients with symptomatic disk herniation.
Patients with the CT/TT genotype reported a higher VAS leg pain
intensity (P= 0.002) and also a lower PPT in the gluteal muscles
(left P= 0.016; right P= 0.016) compared with patients with the
CC genotype during 1 year of follow-up.
Discussion: [...]