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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Assessment of Morphine-induced Hyperalgesia and Analgesic Tolerance in Mice Using Thermal and Mechanical Nociceptive Modalities
07:23

Assessment of Morphine-induced Hyperalgesia and Analgesic Tolerance in Mice Using Thermal and Mechanical Nociceptive Modalities

Published on: July 29, 2014

Sex-based differences in gastrointestinal pain

Emeran A Mayer1, Steve Berman, Lin Chang

  • 1Departments of Medicine, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, CNS: Center for Neurovisceral Sciences and Women's Health, UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases, UCLA and VA GLAHS, WLA VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA. emayer@ucla.edu

European Journal of Pain (London, England)
|August 25, 2004
PubMed

Recent interest has focused on sex-related differences in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) physiology and treatment responsiveness to novel pharmacologic therapies. Similar to a variety of other chronic pain conditions and certain affective disorders, IBS is more prevalent amongst women, both in population-based studies as well as in clinic-based surveys. Non-painful gastrointestinal symptoms, constipation and somatic discomfort are more commonly reported by female IBS patients. While perceptual differences to rectosigmoid stimulation are only observed following repeated noxious stimulation of the gut, sex-related differences in certain sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responses to rectosigmoid stimulation are consistently seen. Consistent with experimental findings in animals, current evidence is consistent with a pathophysiological model which emphasizes sex-related differences in autonomic and antinociceptive responses to certain visceral stimuli.

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