ArticleJournal of neuroscience research2022
Sex differences in morphine sensitivity are associated with differential glial expression in the brainstem of rats with neuropathic pain.
Article in Journal of neuroscience research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sexually Dimorphic Neuroimmune Pathways in Chronic Pain: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms.Biomolecules · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- The actions of morphine on microglia and the underlying effects on associated adverse effects.Psychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Peroxisome, neuropeptide, and inflammation signaling pathways uniquely impacted by opioid exposure in the hypothalamus of males and females.Molecular and cellular neurosciences · 2025Article
- Interactive effects of morphine and the HIV integrase inhibitor, cabotegravir, in male and female mice.Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2025Article
- Widespread transposable element dysregulation in human aging brains with Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Article
- Assessing Gender Differences in Neuropathic Pain Management: Findings from a Real-Life Clinical Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Sustained morphine exposure alters spinal NMDA receptor and astrocyte expression and exacerbates chronic pain behavior in female rats.Pain reports · 2024Article
- [Biomolecules · 2023Article
- Sex differences in morphine sensitivity are associated with differential glial expression in the brainstem of rats with neuropathic pain.Journal of neuroscience research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chronic pain is more prevalent and reported to be more severe in women. Opioid analgesics are less effective in women and result in stronger nauseant effects. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying these sex differences have yet to be clearly defined, though recent research has suggested neuronal-glial interactions are likely involved. We have previously shown that similar to people, morphine is less effective at reducing pain behaviors in female rats. In this study, we used the immunohistochemical detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression to investigate sex differences in astrocyte density and morphology in six medullary regions known to be modulated by pain and/or opioids. Morphine administration had small sex-dependent effects on overall GFAP expression, but not on astrocyte morphology, in the rostral ventromedial medulla, the subnucleus reticularis dorsalis, and the area postrema. Significant sex differences in the density and morphology of GFAP immunopositive astrocytes were detected in all six regions. In general, GFAP-positive cells in females showed smaller volumes and reduced complexity than those observed in males. Furthermore, females showed lower overall GFAP expression in all regions except for the area postrema, the critical medullary region responsible for opioid-induced nausea and emesis. These data support the possibility that differences in astrocyte activity might underlie the sex differences seen in the processing of opioids in the context of chronic neuropathic pain.
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