Differences in Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels Between Chronic and Asymptomatic Pain Patients

Differences in Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels Between Chronic and Asymptomatic Pain Patients

A case-control study will be conducted to analyze the differences in BDNF levels between patients with chronic pain and asymptomatic people.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is considered a biomarker of brain plasticity. Since different alterations in brain plasticity have been found in chronic pain patients, the investigators want to study whether there are differences at the molecular level in this population compared to an asymptomatic population in order to be able to accurately measure the impact of different physiotherapy interventions in an objective way.

Inclusion Criteria:

• males and females aged 18 to 65 years with musculoskeletal pain for a minimum of 3 months
• patients recruited by information pamphlets from the university clinic of the Rey Juan Carlos University, and CSEU La Salle
• not having received physiotherapy treatment for this same process in the last 3 months.
• ability to perform all the clinical tests and to understand the study process, as well as to obtain informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Systemic, neurological, oncological or inflammatory diseases; psychiatric pathologies, pregnancy, type II diabetes.