Painful neuropathy in Dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pain in Semantic Dementia and behavioural variant Frontotemporal Dementia: Does the peripheral nervous system play a role?
IRAS ID
207964
Contact name
Andrew Marshall
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a non-Alzheimer dementia with a young age of onset, frequently show evidence of abnormalities in the way they sense or react to pain.
It is not known whether this reflects abnormalities in the brain and/or of the nerves that transmit sensory information from the skin and deeper tissues to the spinal cord, the peripheral nerves.In this respect we aim to study the peripheral nerves in up to 40 patients with FTD. The peripheral nerves that are involved in sensing painful/noxious stimuli are the small nerve fibres. Measuring small nerve fibre damage has until recently been difficult. We will use a technique that we have pioneered in Manchester, corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) that enables small nerve fibre damage to be quantified in a rapid, non-invasive manner, by imaging a layer of nerves on the front of the eye.
Patients with FTD will be invited to be studied at the Manchester Clinical Research Facility, based at Manchester Royal Infirmary for a single visit. Participants will undergo basic nursing and clinical neurological assessments as well as being assessed for evidence of nerve damage using non-invasive tests routinely performed in clinical practice (nerve conduction studies, tests of how temperature is sensed and autonomic tests e.g. heart rate variability). The number and structure small nerves on the eye will be assessed by CCM. Results of all these tests will be compared to our large (>150) established database of healthy control subjects.
Understanding the reason why FTD patients react differently to pain is of importance as it would provide insights into the way painful stimuli are processed by the nervous system. The potential for CCM as a biomarker of pain and nerve damage in FTD will be explored.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0472
Date of REC Opinion
30 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion