title: Influence of testosterone on autotomy in castrated male rats.
abstract: Sex-related differences exist in nociception and gonadal steroids influence the analgesic response in animals and humans. As we have shown previously, estrogen could modify autotomy in female rats using the sciatic nerve transection model. To further characterize the relationship between gonadal steroid and nociception, the role of testosterone on autotomy in sciatic nerve sectioned rats was investigated. Twenty male rats were subjected to orchiectomy (ORX). Then ten rats received subcutaneous sesame oil and the other ten were treated with testosterone propionate in sesame oil (TP; 500 microg/day/rat). All the rats underwent sciatic nerve resection in left hind limb. Degree of self-mutilation was measured daily for 8 weeks. TP reinstatement resulted in significantly lower autotomy scores in orchiectomized rats. The results demonstrated that testosterone could modify the autotomy behavior, an indicator of neuropathic pain, in rats after nerve injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Su-Man
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Cheng-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.forename: Shen-Kou
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Martin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mok
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D008297:Male; D009919:Orchiectomy; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000503:physiopathology; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone