Estrogen Plays Important Role In Pain Sensitivity

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Estrogen Plays An Important Role In Determining How Sensitive A

Person Is To Pain

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070812094428.htm

Estrogen plays an important role in determining how sensitive a

person is to pain, and the estrogen receptor known as ER-beta is

particularly significant in this context. These are the conclusions

of a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska

Institutet, published in PNAS.

" This may mark the beginning of the production of a new class of

analgesic drugs " , says Professor Jan-Åke Gustafsson, Department of

Biosciences and Nutrition.

Earlier studies have shown that estrogen affects how we experience

pain, but the mechanisms behind this have been unclear. Estrogen can

bind to two different receptors, known as ER-alpha and ER-beta, and

the new study describes results obtained concerning the expression

of these two receptors in the spinal cord.

The results show that ER-beta plays an important role in the

development of the part of the spinal cord that contains nerve

fibres that carry information to the brain. These nerves are

important in several functions, including determining how sensitive

a person is to pain, and response to sensation in general. ER-beta

is the dominant estrogen receptor during the development of the

embryo. The researchers also showed that neuronal development occurs

later in mice that lack ER-beta, and that ER-beta is important in

the spinal cord of the adult animal for the survival of nerve cells

and for the transmission of pain and sensation.

" These results are particularly interesting in the light of

preliminary results from pre-clinical studies that suggest that

substances that stimulate ER-beta can give pain relief " , says Jan-

Åke Gustafsson.

Publication: Estrogen receptor beta is essential for sprouting of

nociceptive primary afferents and for morphogenesis and maintenance

of the dorsal horn interneurons, Xiaotang Fan, Hyun-Jin Kim,

Margaret Warner, Jan-Åke Gustafsson. PNAS, Online Early Edition, 6-

10 August 2007