Journal
PAIN
Volume 131, Issue 1-2, Pages 142-152Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.12.027
Keywords
allopregnanolone; pain; African Americans; HPA-axis
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Funding
- NCRR NIH HHS [M01 RR000046, RR00046] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDA NIH HHS [R01 DA1375, R01 DA013705-04, R01 DA013705] Funding Source: Medline
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In animal models, allopregnanolone (ALLO) negatively modulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and has been shown to exert analgesic effects. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between plasma ALLO immunoreactivity (ALLO-ir), HPA-axis measures, and pain sensitivity in humans. Forty-five African Americans (21 men, 24 women) and 39 non-Hispanic Whites (20 men, 19 women) were tested for pain sensitivity to tourniquet ischemia, thermal heat, and cold pressor tests. Plasma ALLO-ir, cortisol, and P-endorphin concentrations were taken following an extended rest period. Lower concentrations of ALLO-ir were associated with increased pain tolerance to all three pain tests and increased pain threshold to the thermal heat pain task in the non-Hispanic Whites only (rs = -.35 to -.49, ps <.05). Also, only in the non-Hispanic Whites was cortisol associated with thermal heat tolerance (r = +.39, p <.05) and threshold (r = +.50, p < .01) and cold pressor tolerance (r = +.32, p <.05), and were beta-enclorphin concentrations associated with cold pressor tolerance (r = +.33, p <.05). Mediational analyses revealed that higher cortisol levels mediated the relationship between lower ALLO-ir and increased thermal heat pain threshold in the non-Hispanic Whites only. These results suggest that lower ALLO-ir concentrations are associated with decreased pain sensitivity in humans, especially in non-Hispanic Whites, and that this relationship may be mediated by HPA-axis function. (C) 2007 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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