PT638. Translational research of chronic pain patients using human blood-induced microglia-like (iMG) cells

Abstract

Fibromyalgia is a refractory disease characterized by chronic pain, the cause of which has not yet been elucidated due to its complex pathology. Recently, activation of immune cells in the brain called microglia has attracted attention as a potential underlying pathological mechanism in chronic pain. Until recently, however, technological and ethical considerations have limited the ability to conduct research using human microglia. We have developed a technique to create human-induced microglia-like (iMG) cells from human peripheral blood monocytes.

This study was conducted to observe microglia activation in patients with fibromyalgia at the cell level using iMG technique. iMG cells were created from 14 patients with fibromyalgia and 10 healthy individuals, and analyzed at the molecular cell level.

No significant difference in phagocytic capacity was observed between iMG cells derived from healthy participants and patients with fibromyalgia. Interestingly, however, TNF-α gene expression level and protein concentrations significantly increased in ATP-stimulated iMG cells from patients with fibromyalgia compared to cells from healthy individuals. Moreover, significant correlations were observed between ATP-induced TNF-α expression level and clinical parameters of subjective pain and other mental manifestations of fibromyalgia. These findings suggest that the microglia in patients with fibromyalgia are hypersensitive to ATP.

TNF-α produced by microglia may be a key factor underlying the complex pathology of fibromyalgia.