A new difference between a man and a woman is found
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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A group of neurophysiologists during experiments with rodents concluded that in the male and female body, different groups of nerve cells respond to the pain, if the discovery is confirmed, then the approach to developing drugs for chronic pain will need to be reviewed.
In other studies, experts have shown that men and women have different susceptibility to pain, in women, the body is more prone to developing chronic pain, however, experts have always believed that signal transmission through neurons and processing of information occurs regardless of gender.
The lead author of the study, Jeffrey Mogil of the University of Montreal, said that his group has been studying the differences in pain sensations on the basis of gender for several years. It is worth noting that last year the team Tomb found that chronic pain is perceived by the male and female body in different ways. For example, this kind of pain suppresses the desire of women to have sex, while the same kind of pain in men does not affect sexual desire.
A new study by a team of scientists was aimed at uncovering a mechanism that controls the transmission of pain signals. Specialists sought to understand why even a slight touch to the inflamed areas causes the strongest reaction of the body.
The researchers themselves explained that microglia cells participate in this process. About the involvement of these bodies to the intensity of pain sensations scientists have suspected for quite some time. Microglia represent a kind of barrier of nervous tissue, in addition, scientists noted that in all past studies in the field of microglia, only male mice participated.
Taking into account all their previous work and conclusions, the team of scientists took for experiments an equal number of males and female rodents. In all animals, the sciatic nerve was specially damaged, which led to the development of permanent (chronic) pain. Further, specialists injected drugs that blocked microglia and monitored the behavior of mice.
As a result, scientists noted obvious differences in the behavior of males and females. After the administration of medications, judging by the movements of animals, in males the pain decreased significantly or completely passed, while the female analgesic did not function. But even after scientists disconnected the microglia genetically or removed these cells from the nervous tissue, exposing them to toxins, the females still continued to suffer from chronic pain.
This study confirms the fact that the male and female body perceive pain by different groups of nerve cells. Anesthetics, in the development of which only males participated, may not help the female body at all, precisely because of differences in the neural connections responsible for the pain.
Mogil noted that biologists should review all their previous work in this field and develop drugs with gender in mind.
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