Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

The diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain disorders is an expanding area of research. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain disorder that causes an individual to have a widespread heightened sensitivity to pain and it has no clear diagnosis or treatment. The current research study focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of radial shockwave therapy (RSWT) to treat FM associated pain and symptoms by quantifying cytokine protein concentrations in the blood. Concentrations of the interleukin 6 (IL-6) cytokine secreted by immune system cells, known as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), are specifically analyzed as levels are known to be lower in FM patients compared to healthy individuals. Blood samples are taken before and after FM patients completed a total of five once weekly RSWT treatments. PBMCs are isolated from the blood and half are stimulated with a protein mitogen to release cytokines. IL-6 concentrations are measured in stimulated and unstimulated samples using western blot analysis, and are compared between FM and healthy individuals. It is hypothesized that cytokine deregulations causing reduced IL-6 levels in FM patients will be due to PBMC dysfunction, and RSWT treatments will improve FM associated pain and symptoms as indicated by IL-6 levels before and after treatment. By evaluating cytokine concentration differences between FM and healthy individuals, more studies can be conducted and lead to new and effective treatments for FM and other chronic pain disorders.