Gene Variants Linked with Pain Tolerance

A new study has shown that the ability to cope with chronic pain might be genetic.

Some people have higher tolerance for pain than others. Understanding how people tolerate chronic pain can help researchers find new treatments for chronic diseases. Chronic pain is different from normal, acute pain in that it lasts for days, weeks or even years.

"Chronic pain can affect every other part of life," said Tobore Onojjighofia, MD, MPH, with Proove Biosciences. "Finding genes that may be play a role in pain perception could provide a target for developing new therapies and help physicians better understand their patients' perceptions of pain."

The study found that certain genetic variants were linked with patients' ability to cope with long-term pain. Data for the research came from 2,721 patients. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of their pain. All the patients were on opioid pain medications.

Researchers then classified people based on pain intensities; low, high and moderate pain perception.

The team found that a variant of DRD1 gene was more common in people in the low-pain group than others. The gene variants of COMT and OPRK were more likely to be seen in moderate-pain group than high pain group.

Also, the gene DRD2 was 25 percent more prevalent in people who reported higher levels of pain than others.

 "Our study is quite significant because it provides an objective way to understand pain and why different individuals have different pain tolerance levels," Onojjighofia said in a news release. "Identifying whether a person has these four genes could help doctors better understand a patient's perception of pain."

The study results will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, April 26 to May 3, 2014.

Related research has found that personality might affect a person's response to pain, with introverts reporting more pain than extroverts. Researchers at the Stanford University reported that there is a link between anxiety and level of pain.