# Eye Pain and Photophobia: Ocular Signs and Symptoms As Markers of Central Abnormalities in Gulf War Illness

> **NIH VA I01** · MIAMI VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Upon return from 1991 Gulf War (GW), many veterans began suffering from a wide range of health symptoms
of unknown etiology. These symptoms encompass 6 major domains including cognitive and sleep, pain,
neurological and cognitive, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and skin manifestations, which have come to be
categorized as Gulf War Veterans’ illnesses (GWVI). GWVI is a multisystem disease estimated to affect 25% of
GW Era veterans. Neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration have been postulated to underlie GWVI
symptoms. A need in the field is to better define GWVI, and distinguish symptom clusters within GWVI, in order
to develop targeted treatments. Our central hypothesis is that a comprehensive neurosensory testing
protocol can be applied to the study of GWVI to distinguish GWVI case groups from controls and to
identify sub-groups within GWVI. This protocol consists of applying quantitative sensory testing (QST)
strategies to evaluate the integrity of sensory processing mechanisms (Aim 1), examining trigeminal neural
circuit responses to light using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Aim 2), and examining neuro-
inflammatory signatures in blood (Aim 3) in individuals with GWVI and appropriate controls. The combined
results of these three aims will allow us to examine which neurosensory metrics, in isolation or combination, are
most useful in predicting GWVI phenotypes. Along with forwarding our understanding of GWVI pathophysiology,
these data can be used to develop tests that can be used in the clinical arena to sub-group individuals based on
underlying mechanisms, an important first step to developing targeted therapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10701095
- **Project number:** 1I01CX002633-01
- **Recipient organization:** MIAMI VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Anat Galor
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-01 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10701095

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10701095, Eye Pain and Photophobia: Ocular Signs and Symptoms As Markers of Central Abnormalities in Gulf War Illness (1I01CX002633-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-02 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10701095. Licensed CC0.

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