Presentatör: Karolina af Ekenstam, MD, PhD-student, Department of Clinical Sciences, Danderyd Hospital, Karolinska Institute.

Co-authors: Joana Menezes, MS, Emerson Krock, PhD, Angelica Sandström, PhD, Jeanette Tour, MD, Katalin Sandor, PhD, Alexandra Jurczak, PhD, Matthew Hunt, PhD, Azar Baharpoor, MS, Diana Kadetoff, MD, PhD, Camilla I. Svensson, Professor*, Eva Kosek, Professor*, Karolinska Institute, *contributed equally

Bakgrund: IgG-antibodies from persons with fibromyalgia (FM) have been shown to bind to satellite glia cells (SGC) in dorsal root ganglia and induce a FM-like condition in mice (1). Furthermore, compared to healthy controls (HC), FM subjects show elevated IgG binding to murine and human SGC, and within the FM group, subjects with elevated levels of anti-SGC IgG-antibodies present with more severe symptoms (2).

Syfte: The aim of this study was to investigate if these results could be replicated in a larger cohort and, assess if the association could be extended to typical FM symptoms such as depression/anxiety, disturbed sleep, and fatigue.

Metod: Levels of anti-SGC IgG were quantified using an immunofluorescence assay exhibiting percentage of murine SGC, in cell cultures, binding human IgG (2). FM subjects (n=93, whereof 30 also included in (2)) were compared to HC (n=40, whereof 29 included in (2)), and the correlations between anti-SGC IgG and symptom severity were assessed in the FM group.

Resultat: FM subjects had significantly higher anti-SGC IgG than HC (p = 0.0122). Anti-SGC IgG-levels correlated with high pain intensity ratings (VAS) and high impact of fibromyalgia (FIQ), thus replicating our previous results (2). In addition, we found a weak positive correlation with depression (HAD). We found no significant associations between anti-SGC IgG-levels and anxiety (HAD), fatigue (MFI), or disturbed sleep (PSQI).

Slutsats: A subset of fibromyalgia subjects have elevated levels of anti-satellite glia cell antibodies, and these levels are associated with higher pain intensity and higher impact of fibromyalgia.

  1. Goebel A, Krock E, Gentry C, Israel MR, Jurczak A, Urbina CM, et al. Passive transfer of fibromyalgia symptoms from patients to mice. J Clin Invest. 2021;131(13).
  2. Krock E, Morado-Urbina CE, Menezes J, Hunt MA, Sandström A, Kadetoff D, et al. Fibromyalgia patients with elevated levels of anti-satellite glia cell immunoglobulin G antibodies present with more severe symptoms. Pain. 2023;164(8):1828-40.