Discovery and Analytical Validation of Inflammatory Bio-signatures of the Human Pain Experience

The first objective of the study is to evaluate whether a novel bio-signature (derived from a wide range of pro- and anti-nociceptive IL-1 family cytokine activity) will predict pain experienced and also release of underlying endogenous opioid neurotransmitters during an experimental nociceptive pain challenge, which will be performed while simultaneously quantifying mu-opioid receptor activity in the brain via \[11C\]-carfentanil PET neuroimaging in healthy subjects. Another objective is to evaluate whether an anti-inflammatory drug that reduces activation of IL-1b (minocycline) will perturb the balance between pro- and anti-nociceptive IL-1 cytokines and effect a reduction in pain experienced (and endogenous opioids released) during the experimental, nociceptive pain challenge. A final objective is to evaluate performance characteristics (sensitivity, accuracy, dynamic range) of the biosignature for the purpose of predicting post-operative pain.