title: Sex differences and hormonal modulation of deep tissue pain.
abstract: Women disproportionately suffer from many deep tissue pain conditions. Experimental studies show that women have lower pain thresholds, higher pain ratings and less tolerance to a range of painful stimuli. Most clinical and epidemiological reports suggest female gonadal hormones modulate pain for some, but not all, conditions. Similarly, animal studies support greater nociceptive sensitivity in females in many deep tissue pain models. Gonadal hormones modulate responses in primary afferents, dorsal horn neurons and supraspinal sites, but the direction of modulation is variable. This review will examine sex differences in deep tissue pain in humans and animals focusing on the role of gonadal hormones (mainly estradiol) as an underlying component of the modulation of pain sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neural and Pain Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, 650 W. Baltimore St., 8 South, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Center for Pain Studies, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Electronic address: rtraub@umaryland.edu.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Traub
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010146:Pain / Q000378:metabolism*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones
keywords: Animal; Brain imaging; Dorsal horn neuron; Estrogen; Human; Muscle; Pain; Primary afferents; Testosterone; Viscera