Dercum's disease (
adiposis dolorosa) is characterised by adiposity and
chronic pain in the adipose tissue. It has been proposed that conditions encompassing
chronic pain have altered concentrations of
neuropeptides involved in
pain transmission. The aim of this investigation was to examine whether patients with
Dercum's disease have abnormal concentrations of different
neuropeptides. In cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in plasma (P) from 53 patients with
Dercum's disease substance P-like immunoreactivity (SP-LI),
neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactivity (NPY-LI), β-
endorphin-like immunoreactivity (β-END-LI),
calcitonin gene-related peptidelike immunoreactivity (CGRP-LI),
met-enkephalin-like immunoreactivity (m-ENK-LI),
vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreactivity (VIP-LI),
somatostatin (SOM-LI), γ2-melanocyte-stimulating
hormone-like immunoreactivity (γ2-MSH-LI), and
dynorphin-like immunoreactivity (DYN-LI) were measured. Three of the substances were also measured in a control group. The CSF concentration of SP was statistically significantly lower in the Dercum group than in the control group, whereas NPY-LI and b-END-LI were borderline statistically significantly lower and higher, respectively, in Dercum patients compared to controls. Compared with reference values, CSF-
MSH-LI levels were slightly elevated and CSF-NPY-LI levels were slightly lowered in the Dercum group. The other substances in both CSF and plasma were within the reference values with a high degree of statistical significance. In conclusion, altered levels of
neuropeptides that have previously been seen in different
pain conditions cannot clearly be demonstrated in
Dercum's disease.