Locus Coeruleus MR Measured Signal Intensity in Fibromyalgia Relative to Healthy Controls.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition without an established aetiology. However, noradrenergic dysfunction is a possible mechanism to explain the constellation of symptoms associated with fibromyalgia. Noradrenaline synthesis in the locus coeruleus (LC) results in a paramagnetic by-product, neuromelanin. Recently, a magnetic resonance imaging sequence sensitive to neuromelanin has been used to assay LC signal intensity, a proxy for noradrenergic system function. Here, we use MR imaging to investigate the noradrenergic-locus coeruleus system in participants with fibromyalgia and healthy controls.

Methods

Forty-six participants with fibromyalgia and 41 healthy controls were recruited for a cross-sectional characterisation of LC signal intensity at 3 T, quantified

SUBMITTER: DeMayo MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12621157 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature