A multi-ancestry genetic study of pain intensity in 598,339 veterans.

Toikumo S, Vickers-Smith R, Jinwala Z, Xu H, Saini D, Hartwell EE, Pavicic M, Sullivan KA, Xu K, Jacobson DA, Gelernter J, Rentsch CT, Million Veteran Program, Stahl E, Cheatle M, Zhou H, Waxman SG, Justice AC, Kember RL, Kranzler HR. A multi-ancestry genetic study of pain intensity in 598,339 veterans. Nature medicine. 2024 Apr 1; 30(4):1075-1084.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

Chronic pain is a common problem, with more than one-fifth of adult Americans reporting pain daily or on most days. It adversely affects the quality of life and imposes substantial personal and economic costs. Efforts to treat chronic pain using opioids had a central role in precipitating the opioid crisis. Despite an estimated heritability of 25-50%, the genetic architecture of chronic pain is not well-characterized, in part because studies have largely been limited to samples of European ancestry. To help address this knowledge gap, we conducted a cross-ancestry meta-analysis of pain intensity in 598,339 participants in the Million Veteran Program, which identified 126 independent genetic loci, 69 of which are new. Pain intensity was genetically correlated with other pain phenotypes, level of substance use and substance use disorders, other psychiatric traits, education level and cognitive traits. Integration of the genome-wide association studies findings with functional genomics data shows enrichment for putatively causal genes (n? = 142) and proteins (n? = 14) expressed in brain tissues, specifically in GABAergic neurons. Drug repurposing analysis identified anticonvulsants, ß-blockers and calcium-channel blockers, among other drug groups, as having potential analgesic effects. Our results provide insights into key molecular contributors to the experience of pain and highlight attractive drug targets.