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SexX matters when it comes to pain
1James and Carolyn Frenkil Dean's Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, Director - Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore MD, 21201, USA.
Neuron
|April 22, 2021
Summary
Sex differences in pain neurobiology are unclear. Activating specific brain pathways offers pain relief in males but not females, revealing a key sex-based difference in pain processing.
Area of Science:
- Neurobiology
- Pain Research
- Sex Differences
Background:
- The neurobiology underlying sex differences in pain perception is not well understood.
- Investigating sex-based variations in pain modulation pathways is crucial for developing targeted pain therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of dopaminergic projections from the periaqueductal gray (PAG) to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in sex-specific pain modulation.
- To determine if activating this pathway yields differential pain relief between male and female mice.
Main Methods:
- Utilized neurobiological techniques to activate dopaminergic projections from the PAG to the BNST in a mouse model.
- Assessed pain responses in male and female mice following the activation of these specific neural pathways.
Main Results:
- Activation of dopaminergic projections from the PAG to the BNST resulted in significant pain relief in male mice.
- The same activation protocol provided minimal to no pain relief in female mice, highlighting a marked sex difference.
Conclusions:
- The PAG-BNST dopaminergic pathway plays a significant role in pain modulation, but its efficacy is sex-dependent.
- These findings suggest distinct neurobiological mechanisms for pain processing and relief in males and females, offering potential targets for sex-specific pain treatments.