Preliminary Evidence for the Sequentially Mediated Effect of Racism-Related Stress on Pain Sensitivity Through Sleep Disturbance and Corticolimbic Opioid Receptor Function.
J Pain
; 24(1): 1-18, 2023 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36167231
ABSTRACT
Sleep disturbance predicts worse pain outcomes. Because sleep disturbance inequitably impacts Black adults - with racism as the upstream cause - understanding how racism-related stress impacts pain through sleep might help minimize racialized pain inequities. This preliminary study examined sequential mediation of the effect of racism-related stress on experimental pain through sleep disturbance and corticolimbic µOR function in pain-free non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and White (NHW) adults. Participants completed questionnaires, actigraphy, positron emission tomography, and sensory testing. We reproduced findings showing greater sleep disturbance and pain sensitivity among NHB participants; greater sleep disturbance (r = .35) and lower pain tolerance (r=-.37) were significantly associated with greater racism-related stress. In a sequential mediation model, the total effect of racism-related stress on pain tolerance (ß=-.38, P = .005) weakened after adding sleep disturbance and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) µOR binding potential (BPND) as mediators (ß = -.18, P = .16). The indirect effect was statistically significant [point estimate = -.003, (-.007, -.0003). Findings showed a potential sequentially mediated effect of racism-related stress on pain sensitivity through sleep disturbance and vmPFC µOR BPND. As policy efforts are enacted to eliminate the upstream cause of systemic racism, these results cautiously suggest that sleep interventions within racism-based trauma informed therapy might help prevent downstream effects on pain. PERSPECTIVE This preliminary study identified the effect of racism-related stress on pain through sleep disturbance and mu-opioid receptor binding potential in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Findings cautiously support the application of sleep interventions within racism-based trauma-informed therapy to prevent pain inequities as policy changes function to eliminate all levels of racism.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Sleep Wake Disorders
/
Racism
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Equity_inequality
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
J Pain
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
/
PSICOFISIOLOGIA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article