Why is this research being done?

Muscle pain has historically been hard to measure. The main reason is that muscle pain and muscle damage do not have to co-exist. While muscle pain can develop in response to injury such as trauma or even exercise, many clinical conditions exist where muscle pain is felt without muscle damage. Because of this, measures of muscle damage cannot be reliably used to measure pain.

In our previous research, we discovered that a particular compound, “Molecule G” was released from muscle in large amounts in response to a prescription medication that is known to cause muscle pain. Why this is important is because “Molecule G” activates pain receptors in our body.

What is the purpose of this study?

There are currently no ways to measure muscle pain within the body. We are looking to uncover more about the biological mechanisms that cause muscle pain, and are looking to see whether “Molecule G” content matches the level of muscle pain that an individual experiences. Because of this, we want to see if levels of “Molecule G” within the body match with feelings of pain reported by you, our study subjects, after exercise or with general everyday muscle pain. We will also look at how “Molecule G” levels relate to levels of muscle damage markers within the body.