Abstract
Research into the genetics of how humans perceive and react to pain is moving fast, but obstacles remain before major clinical advances can help patients who suffer from chronic or persistent pain. “We need to try to forge partnerships between clinical and basic scientists in order to have a further sense of the basic biological and other factors that influence these conditions,” said University of North Carolina School of Dentistry researcher William Maixner during a May 22 National Institutes of Health (NIH) symposium on advances in pain research. Maixner, director of the dental school’s Center for Neurosensory Disorders, is trying to boost such partnerships. He is the lead researcher for a $19.1 million, seven-year NIH-funded study of risk factors, including genetics, related to the development of temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders (TMJDs). Up to 15% of Americans suffer from restricted movement and pain in the temporomandibular joint, the main symptoms of TMJD, according to NIH. Several years ago, Maixner and his colleagues identified three common variants in the catecholamine-O-methyltransferase gene that correlate with pain severity and the development of TMJD.
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