Genetic predictors of human chronic pain conditions

- Summary of results from genetic association studies of chronic pain conditions.
- Migraine has the highest number of implicated genetic variants.
- Genetic contributors to chronic pain represent many different functional pathways.
- Neurotransmission is overrepresented in chronic pain conditions.

Chronic pain conditions are multifactorial disorders with a high frequency in the population. Their pathophysiology is often unclear, and treatment is inefficient. During the last 20 years, genetic linkage analysis and association studies have made considerable strides toward identifying key molecular contributors to the onset and maintenance of chronic pain. Here, we review the genetic variants that have been implicated in chronic pain conditions, divided into the following etiologically-grouped categories: migraine, musculoskeletal pain disorders, neuropathic pain disorders, and visceral pain disorders. In rare familial monogenic pain conditions several strong-effect mutations have been identified. In contrast, the genetic landscape of common chronic pain conditions suggests minor contributions from a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms representing different functional pathways. A comprehensive survey of up-to-date genetic association results reveals migraine and musculoskeletal pain to be the most investigated chronic pain disorders, in which nearly half of identified genetic variability alters neurotransmission pathways.