Revista de diagnóstico y biomarcadores moleculares

Platelet Membrane Proteins as Pain Biomarkers in Severe Dementia Patients

Abstract

Marília Douradoi*

Pain is one of the most common health issues, and its assessment and treatment are heavily reliant on patient self-report. When obtaining a selfreport is not possible, the therapeutic decision becomes more difficult and limited. The purpose of this study is to see if some membrane platelet proteins can help with pain characterization. We used 53 blood samples from palliative patients, 44 with non-oncological pain and nine without pain, to achieve this goal. When comparing patients with and without pain, we found a decrease in the percentage of platelets expressing and the levels of expression. Furthermore, an increase in the percentage of platelets expressing was observed in pain patients.