Gonadal Hormones and Sex Differences in Pain Reactivity
- 1 May 2003
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in The Clinical Journal of Pain
- Vol. 19 (3) , 168-174
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00002508-200305000-00004
Abstract
Sex differences in the response threshold to painful stimuli and the higher number of chronic pain syndromes in women than in men have prompted a series of studies on lower animals and humans aimed at clarifying the role of gonadal hormones in pain. This article examines the morphologic and functional aspects of gonadal hormone systems and the relations between gonadal hormones and pain circuits, to identify areas deserving of increased attention in elucidating the endocrine mechanisms that contribute to abnormal pain states.Keywords
This publication has 57 references indexed in Scilit:
- Inhibitory effect of 17β-estradiol in the parabrachial nucleus is mediated by GABABrain Research, 2001
- HORMONE-RELATED HEADACHEMedical Clinics of North America, 2001
- Estrogen Biphasically Modifies Hypothalamic GABAergic Function Concomitantly with Negative and Positive Control of Luteinizing Hormone ReleaseJournal of Neuroscience, 2001
- Estrogen is More Than just a “Sex Hormone”: Novel Sites for Estrogen Action in the Hippocampus and Cerebral CortexFrontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 2000
- Hormonal Effects on the BrainEpilepsia, 1998
- Hormones, genes, and behaviorProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1997
- Interrelationships of neurochemicals, estrogen, and recurring headachePain, 1995
- Female sex steroid hormones: from receptors to networks to performance—actions on the sensorimotor systemProgress in Neurobiology, 1994
- Developmental regulation of sex differences in the brain: Can the role of gonadal steroids be redefined?Neuroscience, 1994
- Estrogen suppresses mu-opioid- and GABAB-mediated hyperpolarization of hypothalamic arcuate neuronsJournal of Neuroscience, 1992