Sex differences in lumbar spinal cord gene expression following experimental lumbar radiculopathy.

Full Abstract

Considerable evidence indicates that there are sex-related differences in clinical and experimental pain sensitivity. In the present study, we sought to determine what genes were expressed in the spinal cord in a sexually dimorphic manner. We first analyzed global gene expression in the lumbar spinal cord of uninjured male and female rats using the Affymetrix RAE230A GeneChip platform in order to identify genes that are selectively expressed in male and female rats at a basal level. We subsequently analyzed global gene expression in the lumbar spinal cord of male and female rats at two time points (7 days and 14 d) following a rodent model of lumbar radiculopathy (L5 nerve root ligation) in order to determine what genes were regulated in a sexually dimorphic manner following nerve root injury. We utilized a linear regression analysis method to identify genes that were significantly different from the corresponding sham surgical controls. The expression patterns of several genes of interest were subsequently confirmed using RT-PCR. Our findings demonstrate significant differences in lumbar spinal cord gene expression in both uninjured and injured (L5 nerve root ligation) male and female rats. Further confirmation of a subset of the genes identified Neuregulin 1 and its high affinity receptor, ErbB4, Tachykinin 1, and Metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 as female specific genes upregulated following L5 nerve root injury. These findings provide several target genes for further study that may elucidate the neurochemical mechanisms underlying sex differences in pain sensitivity and lead to improved treatments for chronic pain syndromes.

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Author information

Author/s: LaCroix-Fralish, Michael L (ML); Tawfik, Vivianne L (VL); Spratt, Kevin F (KF); DeLeo, Joyce A (JA);

Affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Dartmouth College, Hanover.

Grants: AR44757 (Agency:NIAMS NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN (J Mol Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-; vol 30 (issue 3) : pp 283-95

Dates: Created 2007/04/02; Completed 2007/05/24; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 17401154, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Male
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
Radiculopathy - genetics
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sex Characteristics
Spinal Nerve Roots - surgery

Associated Chemicals: DNA Primers (0)

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