UCLA researchers from the Departments of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology have developed novel biochemical markers of provoked vestibulodynia.
BACKGROUND:
Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a chronic pain disorder that involves hypersensitivity and severe pain localized to the vulvar vestibule. This disorder affects approximately 7 to 16% of the female population and is the leading cause of painful intercourse in reproductive-aged women. The cause of PVD is poorly understood and more effective treatments for the disorder are needed.
INNOVATION:
Metabolomics is the measure of the change in biochemical products between two samples, which can assist in identifying altered biochemical pathways in disordered samples. UCLA researchers used a cross-sectional case-control study design to create a metabolomic profile of vaginal fluid and plasma in PVD. Women with PVD compared to healthy controls were found to have alterations in levels of steroid hormones and compounds related to the sphingolipid-ceramide pathway, which is involved in communication in neural tissue. Through this panel, UCLA researchers have developed a specific diagnostic marker metabolite panel for the detection of PVD which can also assist in creating new therapeutic interventions for PVD.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS:
• Specific diagnostic marker metabolite panel in PVD
• New therapeutic intervention based on sphingolipid-ceramide pathway metabolite targets
ADVANTAGES:
• First biomarker panel of its kind
DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE:
60 plasma samples and 54 vaginal samples were collected from women with PVD and 49 plasma and vaginal samples were collected from healthy controls. Global metabolomics profiling was performed with 824 compounds in the plasma samples and 952 compounds in vaginal swabs.
RELATED PAPERS:
Bhatt, R. R. et al. Altered gray matter volume in sensorimotor and thalamic regions associated with pain in localized provoked vulvodynia: a voxel-based morphometry study. Pain 160, 1529–1540 (2019).
Lamvu, G. et al. Patterns in Vulvodynia Treatments and 6-Month Outcomes for Women Enrolled in the National Vulvodynia Registry-An Exploratory Prospective Study. J. Sex. Med. 15, 705–715 (2018).
Alappattu, M. et al. Vulvodynia is not created equally: empirical classification of women with vulvodynia. J. Pain Res. 10, 1601–1609 (2017).