Spectroscopy IDs Potential Metabolic Markers to Diagnose Fibromyalgia

The identification of metabolic patterns in the blood of patients with fibromyalgia may improve diagnosis and enable discovery of targeted treatments, according to a study published Feb. 15 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Fibromyalgia is part of a larger group of chronic pain syndromes (e.g., chronic fatigue syndrome and irritable bowel syndrome), but definitive diagnosis remains a challenge due to the lack of reliable biomarkers. Currently, doctors rely on patient-reported symptoms and a physical evaluation of a patient’s pain, focusing on specific tender points. “Unfortunately, no reliable diagnostic test for fibromyalgia exists,” write the authors led by Kevin V. Hackshaw, M.D., from Ohio State University in Columbus. Such a test would be a significant step towards earlier diagnosis of and intervention for this condition, helping to improve patient outcomes, contain health care and/or legal costs, and potentially provide clues to the etiopathogenesis of the syndrome.” The researchers used dried blood spots of peripheral blood samples (derived from fingersticks) from patients with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia (n = 50), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 29), osteoarthritis and  (n = 19), and systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 23). Bloodspot samples were analyzed using vibrational microspectroscopy (a portable FT-IR and FT-Raman microspectroscopy) and […]