Fibromyalgia Tissue Bank to Study Role of Glial Cells

Fibromyalgia Tissue Bank to Study Role of Glial Cells

The world's first fibromyalgia tissue bank has been established at Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Arizona. The tissue bank will expand the area of arthritis research and explore the role of glial cells as they relate to fibromyalgia pain.

Glial cells, also known as glia, are supportive cells in the brain and spinal cord which do not conduct electrical impulses, unlike neurons which do. The first human tissue study to determine if glial cells are involved in long-term pain conditions will hopefully lead to improved treatments. According to the institute, the research could be important for 50 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain conditions ranging from nerve damage, arthritis inflammation, and fibromyalgia to cancer and AIDS. Fibromyalgia tissue donors will be asked to visit the institute each year to undergo a fibromyalgia evaluation and complete a pain assessment questionnaire. Actual tissue donation would not occur until the donor's death.


From the Sun Health website www.sunhealth.org

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MEDIA CONTACT:
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Linda Tyler
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First fibromyalgia tissue bank to be established

Sun City, Arizona
2/15/2007

Sun Health Research Institute has established the world's first fibromyalgia tissue bank and is initiating the first research to explore the latest theory in fibromyalgia pain. Both of these endeavors could positively impact the millions of people in the United States suffering from fibromyalgia.


The National Institute of Health (NIH) has awarded a $1.4-million grant to Dr. Dianne Lorton, head of the Sun Health Research Institute's Robert J. Hoover Center for Arthritis Research, to establish the world's first fibroymalgia tissue bank.


"This is vital to the institute's expansion of arthritis research and initiating the first research to explore the role of glial cells in fibromyalgia's chronic pain," said Dr. Joseph Rogers, president of Sun Health Research Institute.


The expanded arthritis research project is made possible not only by the NIH grant but also by a $100,000 grant from the American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association and a pilot project grant from the NIH. The newly awarded NIH grant is establishing a fibromyalgia brain and spinal cord tissue bank to explore mechanisms for the pain of this disease.


"Tissue collected from fibromyalgia patients will be an incredible resource for finding answers to the questions of what causes fibromyalgia and how we can successfully treat it,"said Dr. Lorton. "There is a great need for individuals with fibromyalgia to become tissue donors to help us find new insights into understanding and treating the chronic pain of this disease."


This will be the first human tissue study to scientifically demonstrate whether activated brain and spinal cord cells called glia are involved in long-term pain conditions which will allow for the development of new drugs that control chronic-pain responses.


"Pain in fibromyalgia is poorly understood and managed," said Lorton. "It is expected this innovative new research will lead to a potentially revolutionary treatment for the millions of people suffering with severe chronic pain."


Lorton is collaborating with Dr. Linda Watkins at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in doing this research that could significantly impact the fifty million Americans who suffer from long-term pain caused by nerve damage from shingles or diabetes, inflammation from arthritis, and in diseases and syndromes such as cancer, AIDS and fibromyalgia.


Tissue donation will not occur until the donor's death. However, fibromyalgia-tissue donors will be asked to visit the institute annually to undergo a fibromyalgia assessment and complete a pain-assessment questionnaire. Donor enrollment benefits include priority placement on a list for any future clinical trials of newly developed drugs for treating chronic pain. For information on becoming a tissue donor, call (623) 875-6528.


"It is a very personal decision to become a tissue donor, but the possibility of helping to find a cure for future generations can make this a rewarding and positive experience," Lorton said.


During 2006, Sun Health Research Institute celebrated 20 years as a pioneer in the search for answers to age-related diseases. Since its founding in 1986, the Institute, together with its Arizona consortium partners, has been designated by the National Institutes of Health as one of just 29 Alzheimer's Disease Centers in the nation. The Institute's Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research takes laboratory discoveries to clinical trials that foster hope for new treatments. The Institute is affiliated with the Sun Health non-profit community healthcare network.