title: Ovariotomy and persistent pain affect long-term Fos expression in spinal cord.
abstract: Sex differences in pain have been confirmed both in clinical and experimental studies. Estrogen has a great role in this process and can affect response to noxious stimuli. In this study, we used Fos as a marker to investigate the mechanism underlying the phenomenon. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to ovariotomy (OVX) or sham surgery (OVX-sham) group (n=20 rats/condition). All the rats received CCI surgery three weeks after ovariotomy. We used hot-plate test as a sign of neuropathic pain. On PO days 3, 7, 14, and 21, paw withdrawal latency was determined and 2 h later, the L4-L5 segments of the spinal cord were removed and immunostained for Fos protein. Number of Fos-like immunoreactive (Fos-LI) neurons of each section was counted bilaterally. We find that ovariotomy can regulate the sensitivity to thermal stimuli and Fos protein level will change in the spinal dorsal horn. However, the alternation of Fos expression does not extremely account for the behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai 200025, PR China. zhaozin@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Buwei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Liqin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Weiying
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos