title: Increased brain gray matter in the primary somatosensory cortex is associated with increased pain and mood disturbance in patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Interstitial cystitis is a highly prevalent pain condition estimated to affect 3% to 6% of women in the United States. Emerging data suggest there are central neurobiological components to the etiology of this disease. We report the first brain structural imaging findings from the MAPP network with data on more than 300 participants.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used voxel based morphometry to determine whether human patients with chronic interstitial cystitis display changes in brain morphology compared to healthy controls. A total of 33 female patients with interstitial cystitis without comorbidities and 33 age and gender matched controls taken from the larger sample underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging at 5 MAPP sites across the United States.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to controls, females with interstitial cystitis displayed significant increased gray matter volume in several regions of the brain including the right primary somatosensory cortex, the superior parietal lobule bilaterally and the right supplementary motor area. Gray matter volume in the right primary somatosensory cortex was associated with greater pain, mood (anxiety) and urological symptoms. We explored these correlations in a linear regression model, and found independent effects of these 3 measures on primary somatosensory cortex gray matter volume, namely clinical pain (McGill pain sensory total), a measure of urgency and anxiety (HADS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data support the notion that changes in somatosensory gray matter may have an important role in pain sensitivity as well as affective and sensory aspects of interstitial cystitis. Further studies are needed to confirm the generalizability of these findings to other pain conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Anson E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Kairys
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Bergmannsheil, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Wilcke
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Tudor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Puiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Electronic address: eichesco@med.umich.edu.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ichesco
authors.affiliation: Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Labus
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Martucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology and Anesthesiology, University of Alabama, Birmingham Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ness
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology and Anesthesiology, University of Alabama, Birmingham Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.affiliation: Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for Neurobiology of Stress, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Emeran A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mackey
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: A Vania
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Apkarian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maravilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Clauw
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018856:Cystitis, Interstitial / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: cystitis; interstitial; pain; somatosensory cortex