Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is a global health crisis that disproportionately burdens non-Hispanic Black (NHB) individuals, compared with those who identify as non-Hispanic White (NHW). Despite the growing personal and societal impact of cLBP, its biological underpinnings remain poorly understood. To elucidate the biological factors that underlie the racial disparities in cLBP, this study sought to determine whether inflammatory mediators associated with pain interference (PI), pain at rest (PAR), and movement-evoked pain (MEP) differ as a function of racial identity. Blood samples were collected from 156 individuals with cLBP (n = 98 NHB participants, n = 58 NHW participants). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and multiplex assays were used to quantify concentrations of proinflammatory (fibrinogen, C-reactive protein [CRP], serum amyloid A, tumor necrosis factor α [TNF-α], and interleukin [IL]-1α, IL-1β, and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory markers (IL-4 and IL-13). Spearman rho correlations were used to assess associations among markers of inflammation and PI, PAR, and MEP using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form. Analyses revealed that for NHW patients, CRP, serum amyloid A, and IL-6 were positively associated with cLBP outcomes and IL-4 was inversely associated with PAR and MEP. However, for NHB patients, only IL-1α was positively associated with PAR. Our findings suggest that, while there are associations between inflammation and cLBP outcomes, the biomarkers that underlie the inflammation could very well differ as a function of racialized minority group. However, more research with racially inclusive samples is needed to elucidate the mechanisms that may contribute to racial disparities in cLBP.

中文翻译：

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种族特异性关联：炎症介质和慢性腰痛。

慢性腰痛 (cLBP) 是一种全球性健康危机，与非西班牙裔白人 (NHW) 相比，它给非西班牙裔黑人 (NHB) 带来了不成比例的负担。尽管 cLBP 对个人和社会的影响越来越大，但其生物学基础仍然知之甚少。为了阐明 cLBP 种族差异背后的生物学因素，本研究试图确定与疼痛干扰 (PI)、静息疼痛 (PAR) 和运动诱发疼痛 (MEP) 相关的炎症介质是否因种族而异身份。血液样本采集自 156 名 cLBP 患者（n = 98 名 NHB 参与者，n = 58 名 NHW 参与者）。使用酶联免疫吸附测定和多重测定来定量促炎性物质（纤维蛋白原、C反应蛋白 [CRP]、血清淀粉样蛋白 A、肿瘤坏死因子 α [TNF-α] 和白细胞介素 [IL]-1α、IL- 1β 和 IL-6）和抗炎标记物（IL-4 和 IL-13）。 Spearman rho 相关性用于使用简短疼痛清单简表评估炎症标志物与 PI、PAR 和 MEP 之间的关联。分析显示，对于 NHW 患者，CRP、血清淀粉样蛋白 A 和 IL-6 与 cLBP 结局呈正相关，而 IL-4 与 PAR 和 MEP 呈负相关。然而，对于 NHB 患者，只有 IL-1α 与 PAR 呈正相关。我们的研究结果表明，虽然炎症与 cLBP 结果之间存在关联，但炎症背后的生物标志物可能因种族少数群体的不同而存在很大差异。然而，需要对种族包容性样本进行更多研究，以阐明可能导致 cLBP 种族差异的机制。