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Jimenez-Gonzalez M, Li R, Pomeranz LE, Alvarsson A, Marongiu R, Hampton RF, Kaplitt MG, Vasavada RC, Schwartz GJ, Stanley SA. Mapping and targeted viral activation of pancreatic nerves in mice reveal their roles in the regulation of glucose metabolism. Nat Biomed Eng 2022; 6:1298-1316. [PMID: 35835995 PMCID: PMC9669304 DOI: 10.1038/s41551-022-00909-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
A lack of comprehensive mapping of ganglionic inputs into the pancreas and of technology for the modulation of the activity of specific pancreatic nerves has hindered the study of how they regulate metabolic processes. Here we show that the pancreas-innervating neurons in sympathetic, parasympathetic and sensory ganglia can be mapped in detail by using tissue clearing and retrograde tracing (the tracing of neural connections from the synapse to the cell body), and that genetic payloads can be delivered via intrapancreatic injection to target sites in efferent pancreatic nerves in live mice through optimized adeno-associated viruses and neural-tissue-specific promoters. We also show that, in male mice, the targeted activation of parasympathetic cholinergic intrapancreatic ganglia and neurons doubled plasma-insulin levels and improved glucose tolerance, and that tolerance was impaired by stimulating pancreas-projecting sympathetic neurons. The ability to map the peripheral ganglia innervating the pancreas and to deliver transgenes to specific pancreas-projecting neurons will facilitate the examination of ganglionic inputs and the study of the roles of pancreatic efferent innervation in glucose metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Jimenez-Gonzalez
- Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - R Li
- Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - L E Pomeranz
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - A Alvarsson
- Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - R Marongiu
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - R F Hampton
- Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - M G Kaplitt
- Laboratory of Molecular Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - R C Vasavada
- Department of Translational Research and Cellular Therapeutics, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - G J Schwartz
- Departments of Medicine and Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - S A Stanley
- Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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2
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Lee JY, Lee GJ, Nakamura A, Lee PR, Kim Y, Won CH, Furue H, Oh SB. Involvement of cannabinoid type 1 receptor in fasting-induced analgesia. Mol Pain 2021; 16:1744806920969476. [PMID: 33121353 PMCID: PMC7607739 DOI: 10.1177/1744806920969476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is known to modulate not only food intake but also pain, especially via the cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R) expressed throughout the central nervous system and the peripheral tissues. Our previous study demonstrated that fasting produces an analgesic effect in adult male mice, which is reversed by intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of CB1R antagonist (SR 141716). In the present study, we further examined the effect of CB1R expressed in the peripheral tissues. In the formalin-induced inflammatory pain model, i.p. administration of peripherally restricted CB1R antagonist (AM 6545) reversed fasting-induced analgesia. However, intraplantar administration of SR 141716 did not affect fasting-induced analgesia. Furthermore, mRNA expression of CB1R did not change in the formalin model by fasting in the dorsal root ganglia. The formalin-induced c-Fos expression at the spinal cord level was not affected by fasting, and in vivo recording from the superficial dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord revealed that fasting did not affect formalin-induced neural activity, which indicates minimal involvement of the spinal cord in fasting-induced analgesia. Finally, when we performed subdiaphragmatic vagotomy to block the hunger signal from the gastrointestinal (GI) system, AM 6545 did not affect fasting-induced analgesia, but SR 141716 still reversed fasting-induced analgesia. Taken together, our results suggest that both peripheral and central CB1Rs contribute to fasting-induced analgesic effects and the CB1Rs in the GI system which transmit fasting signals to the brain, rather than those in the peripheral sensory neurons, may contribute to fasting-induced analgesic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeong-Yun Lee
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Grace J Lee
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Ayumi Nakamura
- Department of Neurophysiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan
| | - Pa Reum Lee
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yeajin Kim
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Chan Hee Won
- Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Hidemasa Furue
- Department of Neurophysiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan
| | - Seog Bae Oh
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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3
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Green PG, Alvarez P, Levine JD. A role for gut microbiota in early-life stress-induced widespread muscle pain in the adult rat. Mol Pain 2021; 17:17448069211022952. [PMID: 34096398 PMCID: PMC8186117 DOI: 10.1177/17448069211022952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Adult rats that experienced neonatal limited bedding (NLB), a form of early-life stress, experience persistent muscle mechanical hyperalgesia. Since there is a growing recognition that the gut microbiome regulates pain and nociception, and that early-life stress produces a long-lasting impact on the gut microbiome, we tested the hypothesis that persistent muscle hyperalgesia seen in adult NLB rats could be ameliorated by interventions that modify the gut microbiome. Adult NLB rats received probiotics, either Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (10 billion CFU/150 ml) or De Simone Formulation (DSF) (112.5 billion CFU/150 ml mixture of 8 bacterial species), in their drinking water, or non-absorbable antibiotics, rifaximin or neomycin, admixed with cookie dough, to provide 50 mg/kg. Mechanical nociceptive threshold in the gastrocnemius muscle was evaluated before and at several time points after administration of probiotics or antibiotics. Adult NLB rats fed probiotics L. Rhamnosus or DSF, antibiotics, as well as rats fed non-absorbable antibiotics rifaximin or neomycin, had markedly attenuated muscle mechanical hyperalgesia. We hypothesize that persistent skeletal muscle hyperalgesia produced by NLB stress may be, at least in part, due to a contribution of the gut microbiome, and that modulation of gut microbiome using probiotics or non-absorbable antibiotics, may be novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul G Green
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA,Department of Preventative and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA,Division of Neuroscience, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Pedro Alvarez
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA,Division of Neuroscience, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jon D Levine
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA,Division of Neuroscience, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA,Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA,Jon D Levine, University of California San Francisco, Box 0440, 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
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4
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Farkouh A, Baumgärtel C, Gottardi R, Hemetsberger M, Czejka M, Kautzky-Willer A. Sex-Related Differences in Drugs with Anti-Inflammatory Properties. J Clin Med 2021; 10:1441. [PMID: 33916167 PMCID: PMC8037587 DOI: 10.3390/jcm10071441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
There is increasing evidence of sex differences in the action of anti-inflammatory drugs, with women being at significantly higher risk of adverse effects. Nevertheless, clinicians' awareness of the implications of these sex differences on dosing and adverse event monitoring in routine practice is still in need of improvement. We reviewed the literature evaluating sex differences in terms of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of anti-inflammatory drugs. The anti-thrombotic activity of selective and non-selective COX-inhibitors tends to be stronger in men than women. Side effect profiles differ with regards to gastro-intestinal, renal and hepatic complications. Glucocorticosteroids were found to be more effective in men; women were more sensitive to corticosteroids when their oestradiol levels were high, a finding important for women taking hormonal contraception. TNF-alpha inhibitors have a longer half-life in men, leading to stronger immunosuppression and this a higher incidence of infections as side effects. Although research on sex differences in the effectiveness and safety of drugs is increasing, findings are often anecdotal and controversial. There is no systematic sex-differentiated reporting from clinical trials, and women are often under-represented. As personalized medicine is gaining in importance, sex, and gender aspects need to become integral parts of future research and policy making.
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Affiliation(s)
- André Farkouh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Christoph Baumgärtel
- AGES Austrian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency and Austrian Federal Office for Safety in Health Care, 1200 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Roman Gottardi
- Vascular Surgery, MediClin Heart Institute Lahr/Baden, 77933 Lahr, Germany;
| | | | - Martin Czejka
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Alexandra Kautzky-Willer
- Gender Medicine Unit, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria;
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Bonet IJM, Green PG, Levine JD. Sexual dimorphism in the nociceptive effects of hyaluronan. Pain 2021; 162:1116-1125. [PMID: 33065736 PMCID: PMC7969372 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Intradermal administration of low-molecular-weight hyaluronan (LMWH) in the hind paw induced dose-dependent (0.1, 1, or 10 µg) mechanical hyperalgesia of similar magnitude in male and female rats. However, the duration of LMWH hyperalgesia was greater in females. This sexual dimorphism was eliminated by bilateral ovariectomy and by intrathecal administration of an oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) antisense to the G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPR30) mRNA in females, indicating estrogen dependence. To assess the receptors at which LMWH acts to induce hyperalgesia, LMWH was administered to groups of male and female rats that had been pretreated with ODN antisense (or mismatch) to the mRNA for 1 of 3 hyaluronan receptors, cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44), toll-like receptor 4, or receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility (RHAMM). Although LMWH-induced hyperalgesia was attenuated in both male and female rats pretreated with ODN antisense for CD44 and toll-like receptor 4 mRNA, RHAMM antisense pretreatment only attenuated LMWH-induced hyperalgesia in males. Oligodeoxynucleotide antisense for RHAMM, however, attenuated LMWH-induced hyperalgesia in female rats treated with ODN antisense to GPR30, as well as in ovariectomized females. Low-molecular-weight hyaluronan-induced hyperalgesia was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with high-molecular-weight hyaluronan (HMWH) in male, but not in female rats. After gonadectomy or treatment with ODN antisense to GPR30 expression in females, HMWH produced similar attenuation of LMWH-induced hyperalgesia to that seen in males. These experiments identify nociceptors at which LMWH acts to produce mechanical hyperalgesia, establishes estrogen dependence in the role of RHAMM in female rats, and establishes estrogen dependence in the inhibition of LMWH-induced hyperalgesia by HMWH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan J. M. Bonet
- Departments of Medicine and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, and Division of Neuroscience, UCSF Pain and Addiction Research Center, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Paul G. Green
- Departments of Medicine and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, and Division of Neuroscience, UCSF Pain and Addiction Research Center, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- Departments of Preventative & Restorative Dental Sciences and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, and Division of Neuroscience, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Jon D. Levine
- Departments of Medicine and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, and Division of Neuroscience, UCSF Pain and Addiction Research Center, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
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6
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Moriyama H, Hayashi S, Inoue Y, Itoh M, Otsuka N. Sex differences in morphometric aspects of the peripheral nerves and related diseases. NeuroRehabilitation 2016; 39:413-22. [PMID: 27589511 PMCID: PMC5008230 DOI: 10.3233/nre-161372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The elucidation of the relationship between the morphology of the peripheral nerves and the diseases would be valuable in developing new medical treatments on the assumption that characteristics of the peripheral nerves in females are different from those in males. METHODS We used 13 kinds of the peripheral nerve. The materials were obtained from 10 Japanese female and male cadavers. We performed a morphometric analysis of nerve fibers. We estimated the total number of myelinated axons, and calculated the average transverse area and average circularity ratio of myelinated axons in the peripheral nerves. RESULTS There was no statistically significant difference in the total number, average transverse area, or average circularity ratio of myelinated axons between the female and male specimens except for the total number of myelinated axons in the vestibular nerve and the average circularity ratio of myelinated axons in the vagus nerve. CONCLUSIONS The lower number of myelinated axons in the female vestibular nerve may be one of the reasons why vestibular disorders have a female preponderance. Moreover, the higher average circularity ratio of myelinated axons in the male vagus nerve may be one reason why vagus nerve activity to modulate pain has a male preponderance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroshi Moriyama
- Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shogo Hayashi
- Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yuriko Inoue
- Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masahiro Itoh
- Department of Anatomy, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naruhito Otsuka
- Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
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7
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Roussy G, Beaudry H, Lafrance M, Belleville K, Beaudet N, Wada K, Gendron L, Sarret P. Altered morphine-induced analgesia in neurotensin type 1 receptor null mice. Neuroscience 2010; 170:1286-94. [PMID: 20727387 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2010] [Revised: 08/02/2010] [Accepted: 08/10/2010] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Both neurotensin (NT) and opioid agonists have been shown to induce antinociception in rodents after central administration. Besides, previous studies have revealed the existence of functional interactions between NT and opioid systems in the regulation of pain processing. We recently demonstrated that NTS1 receptors play a key role in the mediation of the analgesic effects of NT in long-lasting pain. In the present study, we therefore investigated whether NTS1 gene deletion affected the antinociceptive action of mu opioid drugs. To this end, pain behavioral responses to formalin were determined following systemic administration of morphine in both male and female NTS1 knockout mice. Acute injection of morphine (2 or 5 mg/kg) produced strong antinociceptive effects in both male and female wild-type littermates, with no significant sex differences. On the other hand, morphine analgesia was considerably reduced in NTS1-deficient mice of both sexes compared to their respective controls, indicating that the NTS1 receptor actively participates in mu opioid alleviating pain. By examining specifically the flinching, licking and biting nociceptive behaviors, we also showed that the functional crosstalk between NTS1 and mu opioid receptors influences the supraspinally-mediated behaviors. Interestingly, sexual dimorphic action of morphine-induced pain inhibition was found in NTS1 null mice in the formalin test, suggesting that the endogenous NT system interacts differently with the opioid network in male and female mice. Altogether, these results demonstrated that NTS1 receptor activation operates downstream to the opioidergic transmission and that NTS1-selective agonists combined with morphine may act synergistically to reduce persistent pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Roussy
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
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8
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Mogil JS, Bailey AL. Sex and gender differences in pain and analgesia. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2010; 186:141-57. [PMID: 21094890 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-53630-3.00009-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
It is a clinical reality that women make up the large majority of chronic pain patients, and there is now consensus from laboratory experiments that when differences are seen, women are more sensitive to pain than men. Research in this field has now begun to concentrate on finding explanations for this sex difference. Although sex differences in sociocultural, psychological, and experiential factors likely play important roles, evidence largely from animal studies has revealed surprisingly robust and often qualitative sex differences at low levels of the neuraxis. Although not yet able to affect clinical practice, the continued study of sex differences in pain may have important implications for the development of new analgesic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey S Mogil
- Department of Psychology and Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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9
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Evrard HC. Estrogen synthesis in the spinal dorsal horn: a new central mechanism for the hormonal regulation of pain. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2006; 291:R291-9. [PMID: 16914420 DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00930.2005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The data summarized here suggest the existence of a new central pathway for the hormonal regulation of pain. These data mainly collected in quail, a useful model in neuroendocrinology, demonstrate that numerous neurons in the superficial laminae of the spinal cord express aromatase (estrogen-synthase). Chronic and systemic blockade of this enzyme in quail alters nociception within days, indicating that the slow genomic effects of sex steroids on nociception classically observed in mammals also occur in birds and require aromatization of androgens into estrogens. However, by contrast with these slow effects, acute intrathecal inhibition of aromatase in restricted spinal cord segments reveals that estrogens can also control nociception much faster, within 1 min, presumably through the activation of a nongenomic pathway and in a manner that depends on an immediate response to fast activation/deactivation of local aromatase activity. This emergent central and rapid paracrine mechanism might permit instantaneous and segment-specific changes in pain sensitivity; it draws new interesting perspectives for the study of the estrogenic control of pain, thus far limited to the classical view of slow genomic changes in pain, depending on peripheral estrogens. The expression of aromatase in the spinal cord in other species and in other central nociception-related areas is also briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry C Evrard
- Center for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Research Group in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, University of Liège, Belgium.
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Abstract
Inflammation and inflammatory diseases are sexually dimorphic, but the underlying causes for this observed sexual dimorphism are poorly understood. We discuss neural-immune mechanisms that underlie sexual dimorphism in three critical aspects of the inflammatory process-plasma extravasation, neutrophil function, and inflammatory hyperalgesia. Plasma extravasation and accumulation/activation of leukocytes into tissues are critical components in inflammation and are required for several other aspects of the inflammatory response. Pain (hyperalgesia) also markedly influences the magnitude of other components of the inflammatory response and induces a feedback control of plasma extravasation and neutrophil function. More important, this feedback control itself is powerfully modulated by vagal afferent activity and both the function of the primary afferent nociceptor and the modulation of inflammatory hyperalgesia by vagal afferent activity are highly sexually dimorphic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon D Levine
- Department of Medicine, NIH Pain Center, C522 Box 0440, University of California, San Francisco, 521 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, California 94143-0440, USA.
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12
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You HJ, Cao DY, Yuan B, Arendt-Nielsen L. Sex differences in the responses of spinal wide-dynamic range neurons to subcutaneous formalin and in the effects of different frequencies of conditioning electrical stimulation. Neuroscience 2006; 138:1299-307. [PMID: 16426769 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2005.11.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2005] [Revised: 11/14/2005] [Accepted: 11/20/2005] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate sex-related differences in nociception elicited by s.c. injection of different concentrations (1-5%) of formalin. S.c. formalin-induced biphasic (early and late phases) persistent nociception was assessed by extracellularly recording the spontaneous activities of single spinal dorsal horn wide-dynamic range neurons in anesthetized male and female rats. The nociceptive responses of the dorsal horn wide-dynamic range neurons following s.c. injection of 5%, but not 1% and 2.5%, formalin in female rats were significantly stronger than the responses obtained in male rats. However, these concentration-dependent differences with respect to different sexes existed only in the late, but not the early, phase of formalin-induced nociception in intact, not spinal rats. The 5% formalin-induced late phase nociception in male rats was significantly depressed by 15 min of repeated conditioning electrical stimulation at a frequency of 5 Hz as well as 50 Hz during and after the period of conditioning electrical stimulation (intensity: 1 mA; pulse duration: 1 ms). In contrast, the inhibitory effect of 50 Hz conditioning electrical stimulation on the 5% formalin-elicited late phase response in female rats was markedly greater in magnitude and longer in duration than that of 5 Hz conditioning electrical stimulation. No significant depressive effects of 5 Hz conditioning electrical stimulation on formalin-induced nociception were found in female rats, indicating that the distinct effects of conditioning electrical stimulation at different frequencies are different in animals of opposite sexes. In conclusion, s.c. administration of different concentrations of formalin shows a distinct sex-related difference in its late tonic nociception of spinal nociceptive sensory neurons. Sex differences in formalin-induced tonic nociception are stimulus intensity dependent and related to the modulation from the supraspinal regions. S.c. formalin-induced late phase nociception in female rats is only sensitive to depression at a frequency of 50 Hz, but not 5 Hz, of conditioning electrical stimulation. This suggests that the involvement of the central mechanisms in the antinociceptive effects of conditioning electrical stimulation may be different at various frequencies of stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- H-J You
- Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Laboratory for Experimental Pain Research, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7 D-3, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark.
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13
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Negus SS, Wurrey BA, Mello NK. Sex differences in thermal nociception and prostaglandin-induced thermal hypersensitivity in rhesus monkeys. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2004; 5:92-103. [PMID: 15042517 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2003.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2003] [Revised: 11/25/2003] [Accepted: 11/25/2003] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED The present study examined thermal nociception in 4 male and 4 female rhesus monkeys. In the first experiment, monkeys were tested 5 days/week for 4 consecutive weeks in a warm-water, tail-withdrawal assay of thermal nociception. Thermal nociception did not vary by sex or menstrual cycle phase. However, male monkeys tended to be slightly more sensitive to thermal stimuli than female monkeys in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Thermal nociception did not correlate with estradiol or progesterone levels in female monkeys. In the second experiment, thermal hypersensitivity was induced by administering prostaglandin E(2) (0.0032 to 0.1 mg subcutaneously) into the tail. Prostaglandin E(2) produced slightly greater thermal hypersensitivity in male than in follicular phase female monkeys, but male and luteal phase female monkeys did not differ, and there was not a significant difference between follicular and luteal phase female monkeys. Exposure to the behavioral procedures produced similar increases in blood levels of the stress-related hormones adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol in male and female monkeys, which suggests that measures of thermal nociception or thermal hypersensitivity were not confounded by sex differences in stress responses. These results suggest that sex and gonadal hormone levels have only a minor influence on thermal nociception or thermal hypersensitivity in rhesus monkeys. PERSPECTIVE These modest effects of sex and gonadal hormone levels on measures of pain in non-human primates could be interpreted to support the hypothesis that sex differences in pain perception in humans are due more to sociocultural factors than to a biological imperative.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Stevens Negus
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Harvard Medical School-McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.
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14
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Khasar SG, Reichling DB, Green PG, Isenberg WM, Levine JD. Fasting is a physiological stimulus of vagus-mediated enhancement of nociception in the female rat. Neuroscience 2003; 119:215-21. [PMID: 12763082 DOI: 10.1016/s0306-4522(03)00136-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The vagus nerve modulates nociception by a mechanism dependent upon gonadal hormones and the adrenal medulla. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that this modulation is dynamically controlled by physiological stimulation of structures innervated by the subdiaphragmatic vagus. Specifically, food deprivation (fasting) was employed to increase activity in the subdiaphragmatic vagus, and the experiments were performed mainly in female rats because our previous observations suggested that baseline activity in the pathway is lower in females than in males. Consistent with the hypothesis, after a 48-h fast, female rats exhibited increased nociceptive behavior in the formalin test. In contrast, fasting had no effect on formalin-evoked nociceptive behavior in male rats. The fasting-induced effect on nociception appears to be mediated by the vagus nerve since it is prevented by subdiaphragmatic vagotomy. Also similar to the previously characterized vagus-mediated modulation, the effect of fasting in the female is blocked by gonadectomy or adrenal medullectomy, and hormone replacement with 17beta-estradiol in gonadectomized female rats restored the effect of fasting. Decreased glucose metabolism apparently does not play a significant role in the effect of fasting on nociception, since the effect was unchanged when 5% glucose was provided in the drinking water throughout the fasting period. On the other hand, increasing the bulk content of the stomach (without providing nutrients) by infusion of petrolatum significantly attenuated the effect of fasting during the interphase period of the formalin response, suggesting that decreased gut distention, and possibly motility, are important in fasting-induced enhancement of nociception. These results indicate that fasting is a physiological activator of the vagus-mediated pain modulation pathway. This suggests the possibility that, especially in females, natural periodic changes in gut distention and motility may control an ongoing vagus-mediated adjustment in the organism's nociceptive sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- S G Khasar
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, NIH Pain Center, University of California, San Francisco CA 94143-0440, USA
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15
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Abstract
High prevalence of chronic orofacial pain in women and its relationship with ovarian states suggest that ovarian hormones may be involved in the control of orofacial nociception. Since the interaction between ovarian hormones and nociception seems more evident in the orofacial area than in many other parts of the body, a possible site specificity of an ovarian hormone effect on nociception was tested in rats. Two nociceptive tests were applied to three groups of male rats (n=46) and three groups of female rats (n=46), that were gonadectomised (n=17), sham-operated (n=15) or intact (n=14). Each rat in each group received a local subcutaneous injection of formalin in the upper lip and in the hindpaw. Upper lip injection resulted in an increased occurrence of upper lip rubbing for more than 45 min and hindpaw injection resulted in an increased occurrence of hindpaw licking for about 1h. The duration of the nociceptive behaviours was measured at 3 months after surgery. No significant difference was found between intact and sham-operated animals. A significant increase (54%) in the upper lip rubbing but not the hindpaw licking was observed in gonadectomised females. No difference was observed in castrated males for upper lip rubbing, but a tendency towards an increased duration (102%) of hindpaw licking was noted. The depletion in gonadal hormones was confirmed 3 months after gonadectomy and after the sacrifice of the animals, by the observed decline in the bone mineral density measured on the femur of 40 rats belonging to the six groups. A role of ovarian hormones was also suggested after immunostaining of oestrogen receptors in the lamina II of Caudalis subnucleus of the trigeminal sensory complex and cervical (C1-C2) spinal dorsal horn. The number of cells expressing oestrogen receptors displayed a small (13.6%) but significant (P=0.037) increase in ovariectomised compared with sham-operated rats. These results suggest that the lack of ovarian hormones induces a site-specific increase in the sensitivity to orofacial nociceptive stimulation, and that an up-regulation of oestrogen receptors in the Caudalis subnucleus and C1-C2 dorsal horn may be one of the factors involved in this effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Pajot
- Recherche Universite D'Auvergne, 11, Bd Charles de Gualle, Clermont-Ferrand, France
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16
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Khasar SG, Miao FJP, Gear RW, Green PG, Levine JD. Vagal modulation of bradykinin-induced mechanical hyperalgesia in the female rat. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2003; 4:278-83. [PMID: 14622697 DOI: 10.1016/s1526-5900(03)00631-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
In male rats, activity in subdiaphragmatic vagal afferents modulates nociception via an adrenal medulla-dependent mechanism. Because both the vagus and adrenal medullae are sexually dimorphic, we evaluated vagotomy-induced changes in mechanical nociceptive threshold and inflammatory hyperalgesia in female rats and compared them to those previously reported in male rats. We have found that (1) mechanical nociceptive threshold is lower in female rats than in male rats, perhaps because of tonic release of adrenal medullary factors in female rats; (2) mechanical nociceptive threshold in female rats is influenced to a lesser degree by activity in the subdiaphragmatic vagus; (3) vagotomy-induced enhancement of bradykinin hyperalgesia is greater in female rats; (4) in female rats, in contrast to male rats, celiac plus celiac accessory branch vagotomy failed to fully account for the enhancement of bradykinin hyperalgesia in complete subdiaphragmatic vagotomy; and (5) in female rats, in contrast to male rats, adrenal medullectomy plus subdiaphragmatic vagotomy only partially (approximately 30%) reversed the effect of vagotomy on bradykinin hyperalgesia. These findings demonstrate sexual dimorphism in the modulation of both mechanical nociceptive threshold and bradykinin-induced hyperalgesia by activity in subdiaphragmatic vagal afferents as well as the adrenal medulla.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sachia G Khasar
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and UCSF/NIH Pain Center, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
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17
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Okamoto K, Hirata H, Takeshita S, Bereiter DA. Response properties of TMJ units in superficial laminae at the spinomedullary junction of female rats vary over the estrous cycle. J Neurophysiol 2003; 89:1467-77. [PMID: 12626622 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00795.2002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurons responsive to stimulation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region were recorded from superficial laminae at the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis/upper cervical cord (Vc/C(2)) junction region of cycling female rats under barbiturate anesthesia. To determine if receptive field (RF) properties or sensitivity to algesic chemicals of TMJ units vary over the estrous cycle, animals were selected from proestrous (high estrogen) or early diestrous (low estrogen) stages. More than 90% of TMJ units from each group received convergent nociceptive input [wide dynamic range (WDR) or nociceptive specific (NS)-like] from facial skin. The cutaneous high-threshold RF areas of WDR units from proestrous rats were 30% larger than diestrous units, while RF areas of NS units were similar. Bradykinin (BK, 0.1-10 microM) injection into the TMJ region excited a high percentage of units (>80% of total) from both groups in a dose-related manner. However, BK-evoked response magnitude (R(mag), +140%) and duration (+64%) were greater for proestrous than diestrous units. Both WDR and NS-like TMJ units of proestrous females displayed enhanced BK-evoked R(mag) values and response duration. Glutamate or mustard oil excitation of TMJ units was not affected by stage of the estrous cycle. Several TMJ units from proestrous and diestrous females were activated antidromically from the contralateral posterior thalamus, indicating that projection and nonprojection units were included in the sample population. These results were consistent with the hypothesis that factors related to stage of the estrous cycle modify the processing of deep craniofacial inputs by superficial dorsal horn neurons at the spinomedullary junction, a key region for the initial integration of sensory signals from the TMJ.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Okamoto
- Department of Surgery, Brown Medical School, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA
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18
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Bereiter DA, Bereiter DF, Ramos M. Vagotomy prevents morphine-induced reduction in Fos-like immunoreactivity in trigeminal spinal nucleus produced after TMJ injury in a sex-dependent manner. Pain 2002; 96:205-13. [PMID: 11932076 DOI: 10.1016/s0304-3959(01)00450-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Acute injury to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region activates neurons in multiple, but spatially discrete, areas of the trigeminal spinal nucleus as seen by an increase in Fos-like immunoreactive neurons (Fos-LI). Pretreatment with morphine greatly reduces Fos-LI produced in the dorsal paratrigeminal area (dPa5), ventrolateral pole of the subnucleus interpolaris/caudalis (Vi/Vc-vl) transition region, and laminae I-II at the subnucleus caudalis/upper cervical cord junction (Vc/C2) suggesting a role for these areas in processing pain signals from the TMJ region. To determine if vagal afferents contribute to neural activation after TMJ injury or reduction of activity after morphine, Fos-LI was quantified in the lower brainstem and upper cervical spinal cord of intact and vagotomized male and female rats under barbiturate anesthesia. Bilateral cervical vagotomy (VgX) did not affect Fos-LI produced by TMJ injury in males or females in the absence of morphine. By contrast, morphine-induced reduction in Fos-LI produced at the Vi/Vc-vl transition region was prevented by prior VgX in males and diestrus females, but not in proestrus females. Morphine inhibition of Fos-LI produced in laminae I-II at the Vc/C2 junction region was diminished in vagotomized males compared to intact animals, but not affected in females. In an autonomic control area, the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM), VgX reversed the morphine-induced reduction in Fos-LI in males and females similarly compared to their respective intact controls. These results were consistent with the hypothesis that the Vi/Vc-vl transition region plays a unique role in deep craniofacial pain processing and may integrate autonomic and opioid-related modulatory signals in a manner dependent on sex hormone status.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Bereiter
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown Medical School, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
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