ArticleMolecular brain2026
Chronic stress increases the susceptibility to chronic vulvar pain following acute vulvar inflammation in a preclinical model of vulvodynia.
Article in Molecular brain, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Psychological distress and chronic stress were suggested to contribute to the pathophysiology of idiopathic pain conditions such as provoked vulvodynia (PV). The comorbidity of PV and mood disorder is quite common. Thus, vulvar pain can trigger anxiety, and mood disruption, whereas elevated anxiety and mood disruption play a critical role in pain maintenance. Yet, whether chronic stress can facilitate the development of chronic vulvar pain remains unclear. Here, we aimed to assess the effects of chronic stress on anxiety, depression-like behaviors, and the development of chronic vulvar pain after vulvar inflammation, which combines acute inflammation with chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) in female rats. Current result indicates that CUS leads to a reduction in vulvar mechanical thresholds and an increase in anxiety-like behavior, including reduced entries and time spent in the open arms of the EPM, reduced time in the center, increased distance moved in the OF, and reduced sucrose intake compared to the non-CUS group. Blood corticosterone levels and gene expression related to neuronal activation (cFOS) and GABA-synthesis (GAD67) were significantly increased in the amygdala and PAG in the CUS group compared to the non-CUS group. Following vulvar injection (saline/zymosan), there was a significant reduction in vulvar mechanical threshold in all groups: non-CUS/Saline, non-CUS/Zymosan, CUS/Saline, and CUS/Zymosan. However, mechanical thresholds returned to baseline in all groups except the CUS/Zymosan group, which exhibited prolonged vulvar hypersensitivity with no sign of recovery. Long-term behavioral assessments revealed reduced open-arm entries, altered locomotion, and decreased sucrose intake of the CUS groups compared to non-CUS groups. In conclusion, chronic stress enhances vulnerability to chronic vulvar pain following acute inflammation, alongside persistent anxiety and depression-like behaviors. These findings support a biopsychosocial model of PV, emphasizing the interplay between stress and inflammation in vulvar pain chronification.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.