How stress can make muscle pain last longer
Official title: Project 4 - Queme
Funded at University of New England · NIH-11251592 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work explores how stress might cause short-term muscle pain to become long-lasting by changing support cells around nerves.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of New England NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Biddeford, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $253,362 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM152330-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11251592 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (21+) who have high stress or anxiety and who develop prolonged muscle pain after injury or surgery are the most likely eventual candidates to benefit.
✕Less likely to help
People whose pain is primarily from central nervous system causes, unrelated conditions, or children under 21 are less likely to benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
From your point of view, the team uses mice to model stress by removing environmental enrichment and then produces a brief muscle injury to see if pain becomes persistent. They look at satellite glial cells that wrap sensory nerve cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia for signs of activation, gene changes, and release of pain-promoting signals. They combine animal pain behavior tests with molecular and nerve-sensitivity measurements to link stress-induced cell changes to prolonged ischemic muscle pain. The aim is to pinpoint cellular steps that could be targeted to stop acute pain from turning chronic.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal targets for new treatments that prevent stress-driven chronic muscle pain after injury or surgery.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies have previously linked satellite glial cell activation to increased pain sensitivity, but translating those findings into human treatments remains early and unproven.
Where this research is happening
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University of New England
Biddeford, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Queme Cobar, Luis Fernando — University of New England
- Study coordinator: Queme Cobar, Luis Fernando
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.