PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Alban Y. Neziri AU - Nick A. Bersinger AU - Ole K. Andersen AU - Lars Arendt-Nielsen AU - Michael D. Mueller AU - Michele Curatolo TI - Correlation Between Altered Central Pain Processing and Concentration of Peritoneal Fluid Inflammatory Cytokines in Endometriosis Patients With Chronic Pelvic Pain AID - 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000068 DP - 2014 May 01 TA - Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine PG - 181--184 VI - 39 IP - 3 4099 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/39/3/181.short 4100 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/39/3/181.full SO - Reg Anesth Pain Med2014 May 01; 39 AB - Abstract Translational research has not yet elucidated whether alterations in central pain processes are related to peripheral inflammatory processes in chronic pain patients. We tested the hypothesis that the concentration of cytokines in the peritoneal fluid of endometriosis patients with chronic pain correlate with parameters of hyperexcitability of the nociceptive system. The concentrations of 15 peritoneal fluid cytokines were measured in 11 patients with chronic pelvic pain and a diagnosis of endometriosis. Six parameters assessing central pain processes were recorded. Positive correlations between concentration of some cytokines in the peritoneal fluid and amplification of central pain processing were found. The results suggest that inflammatory mechanisms may be important in the pathophysiology of altered central pain processes and that cytokines produced in the environment of endometriosis could act as mediators between the peripheral lesion and changes in central nociceptive processes.