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Very proud of this study implicating the role of mitochondrial DNA in Fibromyalgia. Let me explain what we found and what it may mean. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32658146/
First some background. Chronic pain runs in families. Studying genetics so far has not yielded strong evidence of a pain gene. We hypothesized that chronic pain may not be driven by nuclear genes but mitochondrial genes. (Yes you have two sets of genes in your body)
Side note: Your mitochondrial DNA is the same as your mother, grand-mother, great-grandmother etc making it ideal to study how humans migrated over the
world https://www.britannica.com/science/mtDNA
world https://www.britannica.com/science/mtDNA
The mitochondria produce the majority of energy required for your cells to function. Changes in the mitochondrial genes can lead to problems with tissues not functioning well or not at all due to a lack of energy. There are >150 mitochondrial diseases. https://www.umdf.org/types/
Your mitochondria are like a gas tank. If the tank is full, you can do what ever you need, even when you require extra energy/gas (eg, exercising, being ill). But if your tank is close to empty, your body does not have enough left in the gas tank. You get sick and some may die.
We hypothesized that chronic pain patients have a gas tank that is not completely full (healthy) nor almost empty (disease). Hence, most of the time they have enough energy to function. But when more energy is required (stress on body), the gas tank gets closer to empty.
In a previous study we found that in 1/6th of chronic pain patients symptoms of low energy metabolism are more common among maternal relatives (the mitochondrial DNA is inherited 100% from your mother). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24500451/
In the current study we examined the whole mitochondrial DNA in a large group of chronic pain patients. We found one gene associated with Fibromyalgia, especially in women. We also found evidence that this gene reduces energy production.
These findings suggest that Fibromyalgia may be caused by changes to mitochondrial genes. These limit the amount of energy created by the mitochondria. In times of extra energy needs (stress, illness etc.) lack of energy for muscle and nerve cells can lead to symptoms.
This is a new and exciting line of research. However, it is still very early and we need to understand much more. If correct, this can lead to new treatment options for people with chronic pain.
