Elevated posterior insula glutamate in patients with sickle cell disease.

ABSTRACT: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited hemolytic disorder accompanied by chronic pain and recurrent acute painful episodes known as vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs). Increased Glx (glutamate+glutamine) and lowered GABA concentration have been reported in the insula of patients with fibromyalgia, a nociplastic chronic pain condition, and may affect the pathophysiology of pain-related syndromes.Therefore, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) was conducted to measure levels of Glx and other brain metabolites using a single voxel (size: 2×3×3 cm³) in the right posterior insula cortex (PIC) in 17 individuals with SCD and 17 ethnicity-, age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). The frequency of VOCs in the preceding 12 months was recorded. The concentration of

SUBMITTER: Zhou X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11807739 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature