Jo Cameron (born 1948; age 76–77 years), also known as Patient PFS, is a Scottish woman who feels no pain and experiences little to no anxiety or other aspects of negative affect.
[3][5] Srivastava remained slightly skeptical until Cameron allowed him to perform a normally very painful maneuver used by anesthesiologists on patients who are having difficulty regaining consciousness following sedation.
[3] At that point, Srivastava developed a research protocol involving a team of highly regarded scientists from around the world in an attempt to figure out what was responsible for her lack of pain.
[3][5] Cameron subjectively reported a lifetime lack of pain, including with childbirth, broken bones, and numerous burns and cuts.
[3][5] Aside from her lack of pain, Cameron was additionally described as characteristically happy, friendly, talkative, optimistic, and compassionate, as well as exceedingly affectionate and loving towards family members.
[2][5] Cameron also experienced characteristic severe nausea and vomiting caused by the opioid morphine that had been given to her postoperatively after hip replacement surgery.
[13][3][5] Conversely, levels of 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG), another endocannabinoid mainly metabolized by a different enzyme called monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) rather than by FAAH, were largely unchanged relative to controls.
[5] Studies of FAAH knockout mice have found that brain levels of anandamide and other endocannabinoids are increased by 10- to 15-fold in several regions and this correlated well with analgesic and anxiolytic phenotypes in these animals.
[5] In spite of the preceding genetic and biochemical findings, it is not fully clear the extent to which Cameron's mutations in FAAH and FAAH-OUT are involved in her presentation.
[13][2][15] In addition, they found alterations that might help to explain her positive mood and low anxiety levels, for instance a dramatic increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in fibroblasts derived from Cameron.
[17][18][19][20][2] Cameron's case has helped encourage interest in pharmaceutical development and repurposing of FAAH inhibitors for the treatment of pain and psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety.