Investigation of projections and chemogenetic stimulation of oxytocinergic neurons on the sensory and affective-emotional components of pain in male and female mice subjected to the hyperalgesic priming model

• Grant number: 24/01917-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Daniela Baptista de Souza
• Grantee: Ana Claudia Braga Dias
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/04387-6 - Sex differences and oxytocinergic transmission impact on chronic pain in animal models and humans, AP.JP

Abstract

Chronic pain conditions have a significantly higher prevalence in women and involve physical, psychological and sociocultural aspects. However, only 20% of pre-clinical studies in neuroscience are carried out on males and females. Evidence described in the literature indicates that social isolation is capable of interfering with pain-related responses. From a neurobiological point of view, the neuromodulator oxytocin is associated with the regulation of pain and processes involving social behaviors. Sex differences in the action of oxytocin on brain areas that modulate emotional responses and pain have been demonstrated. From a clinical perspective, chronic pain can be triggered by surgical procedures. These conditions affect 50% of individuals undergoing different types of surgeries. Within this perspective, there is little information about how biological characteristics (sex and oxytocin levels) and psychosocial factors affect the perceptual and emotional components in the management of this type of chronic pain. Therefore, the objectives of this study involve (i) investigating oxytocinergic projections to areas related to the limbic system and pain modulation (e.g., paraventricular nucleus (PVN)-amygdala, insula, cortex, periaqueductal gray matter and RVM) and (ii) to chemogenetically stimulate, through the use of genetically modified animals (Oxytocin-cre mice), this neural group to verify effects on nociceptive and emotional responses in male and female mice subjected to the hyperalgesic priming model. (AU)