Estrogenic influences in pain processing Asa Amandusson and Anders Blomqvist Linköping University Post Print N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article. Original Publication: Asa Amandusson and Anders Blomqvist, Estrogenic influences in pain processing, 2013, Frontiers in neuroendocrinology (Print), (34), 4, 329-349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2013.06.001 Copyright: Elsevier http://www.elsevier.com/ Postprint available at: Linköping University Electronic Press http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-100488 Estrogenic Influences in Pain Processing Åsa Amandussona and Anders Blomqvistb aDepartment of Clinical Neurophysiology, Uppsala University, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden, and bDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Cell Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden. Correspondence to: Dr. Åsa Amandusson, E-mail:
[email protected], or Dr. Anders Blomqvist, E-mail:
[email protected] Amandusson & Blomqvist, page #2 Abstract Gonadal hormones not only play a pivotal role in reproductive behavior and sexual differentiation, they also contribute to thermoregulation, feeding, memory, neuronal survival, and the perception of somatosensory stimuli. Numerous studies on both animals and human subjects have also demonstrated the potential effects of gonadal hormones, such as estrogens, on pain transmission. These effects most likely involve multiple neuroanatomical circuits as well as diverse neurochemical systems and they therefore need to be evaluated specifically to determine the localization and intrinsic characteristics of the neurons engaged. The aim of this review is to summarize the morphological as well as biochemical evidence in support for gonadal hormone modulation of nociceptive processing, with particular focus on estrogens and spinal cord mechanisms.