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:...

Schistad, Ellina Iordanova; Jacobsen, Line Melå; Røe, Cecilie; Gjerstad, Johannes
The Clinical Journal of Pain 30(10): 869–874
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