Sex hormones, central nervous system and pain.
The aim of the present review, which highlights some relationships between sex hormones, the CNS and pain, is to provide reference points for discussion on one of the most intriguing aspects of pain pathophysiology: the presence of sex differences in the response threshold to phasic painful stimuli and in the incidence of chronic pain syndromes. The first part of the review deals with sex steroids and their mechanisms of action. In the second part, the connections between sex steroids, the CNS and pain are illustrated to introduce possible areas of discussion in the study of sex differences in experimental and clinical pain.
Aloisi
Anna Maria
AM
Department of Physiology, Neuroscience and Applied Physiology Section, Polo Scientifico Universitario San Miniato, Via Aldo Moro, 53100 Siena, Italy. Aloisi@unisi.it
Bonifazi
Marco
M
D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000378:metabolism*; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones