Testosterone protects against the development of widespread muscle pain in mice.

ABSTRACT: Chronic widespread pain conditions are more prevalent in women than men, suggesting a role for gonadal hormones in the observed differences. Previously, we showed that female mice, compared to male, develop widespread, more severe, and longer-duration hyperalgesia in a model of activity-induced muscle pain. We hypothesized testosterone protects males from developing the female pain phenotype. We tested whether orchiectomy of males before induction of an activity-induced pain model produced a female phenotype and whether testosterone administration produced a male phenotype in females. Orchiectomy produced longer-lasting, more widespread hyperalgesia, similar to females. Administration of testosterone to females or orchiectomized males produced unilateral, shorter-lasting hyperalgesia. Prio

SUBMITTER: Lesnak JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7669728 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature