Department of Anesthesia, The Second Xiang-Ya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Neurosci Lett. 2010 Jul 12;478(3):184-7. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2010.05.013. Epub 2010 May 12.
In spite of the fact that brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been reported to be implicated in the development of visceral pain, it remains to be determined whether the role of BDNF in pain is gender dependent. The present study investigated the effect of BDNF on visceral pain in different gender rats. A model for visceral pain was established by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of acetic acid (AA) into Sprague-Dawley rats: males, females and females with an ovariectomy (OVX). The pain behavior index was assessed by counting the number of abdominal contractions for 60min after i.p. injection of AA. Anti-BDNF antibody, or BDNF, was administered 1h before the AA injection to examine the role of BDNF in visceral pain. After the AA injection, the number of abdominal contraction was dramatically increased in all rats but females showed more severe pain behavior than males. The higher sensitivity to AA-induced nocifensive response was attenuated by OVX. Pretreatment with anti-BDNF antibody significantly exacerbated the nocifensive response in males but attenuated it in females. While exogenous BDNF administration did not alter AA injection-induced nocifensive response in females, BDNF pretreatment attenuated the nocifensive response in males but exacerbated it in females with OVX. The present study suggests there is a gender dichotomy in visceral pain induced by AA injection. In addition, the modulation of visceral pain by BDNF is also sex dependent, i.e., BDNF facilitates the visceral pain in female rats but displays an opposite effect in male rats. Our results may have important implications in the management of clinical pain.
尽管脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF) 已被报道与内脏痛的发展有关，但 BDNF 在疼痛中的作用是否存在性别依赖性仍有待确定。本研究探讨了 BDNF 对不同性别大鼠内脏痛的影响。通过向 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠腹腔内 (i.p.) 注射醋酸 (AA) 建立内脏痛模型：雄性、雌性和去卵巢 (OVX) 雌性。通过 i.p. 注射 AA 后 60min 内计数腹部收缩次数来评估疼痛行为指数。在 AA 注射前 1h 给予抗 BDNF 抗体或 BDNF，以检查 BDNF 在内脏痛中的作用。AA 注射后，所有大鼠的腹部收缩次数均显著增加，但雌性大鼠的疼痛行为比雄性大鼠更严重。OVX 可减弱对 AA 诱导的伤害性反应的敏感性。预先给予抗 BDNF 抗体可显著加重雄性大鼠的伤害性反应，但减轻雌性大鼠的伤害性反应。而外源性 BDNF 给药不会改变雌性大鼠 AA 注射引起的伤害性反应，但 BDNF 预处理可减轻雄性大鼠的伤害性反应，但加重 OVX 雌性大鼠的伤害性反应。本研究表明，AA 注射引起的内脏痛存在性别二态性。此外，BDNF 对内脏痛的调节也存在性别依赖性，即 BDNF 促进雌性大鼠的内脏痛，但对雄性大鼠则产生相反的效果。我们的研究结果可能对临床疼痛的管理具有重要意义。
