Researchers report that daily injections of serum IgG antibodies from patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) led to increased pain sensitivity, swelling, and sustained microglial activation in pain-related brain regions in mice with injured hind paws, compared with IgG from healthy donors; blocking receptors for the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 prevented or reversed these effects, suggesting an autoimmune contribution to CRPS development and identifying a potential therapeutic strategy.
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Article #18-20168: "Transfer of complex regional pain syndrome to mice via human autoantibodies is mediated by interleukin-1-induced mechanisms," by Zsuzsanna Helyes et al.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences