Pain is treated differently in male and female neurons.

2022/03/28 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Anatomia/Fisiologia
• Biologia
• Medikuntza
• Osasuna

Spinal cord neurons process pain differently in females and males. To this conclusion comes a recent study published in the journal Brain.

It has long been known that men and women feel different pain. However, in most pain-related investigations male rodents are used. In this case, the laboratory has examined bone marrow tissues from rats and male and female humans and found that the BDNF factor amplifies the pain signal in male rats and men, but not in females. They have also deduced that the difference is caused by hormones, as the BDNF pain factor amplifies as in the case of female rats the ovaries.

Researchers emphasize the importance of understanding how pain is processed to create new drugs for pain and the need to investigate and take into account gender differences.