Changes in pain threshold and lumbar spinal cord immediate-early gene expression induced by paced and nonpaced mating in female rats

Abstract

Vaginocervical stimulation (VCS) received during mating is known to induce analgesia and to suppress FOS-immunoreactivity (FOS-IR) in lumbar spinal cord. However, it is not known whether this suppression of FOS-IR reflects inhibition of afferent nociceptive input. The present studies examined whether two immediate-early gene (IEG) products, FOS and Egr-1, covary with nociception by comparing both responses in estrous females that received mating stimulation known to induce varying amounts of FOS-IR in brain. Ovariectomized steroid-treated rats were mated under conditions in which they paced or did not pace sexual contacts with males until receiving 5 or 15 intromissions. Control groups received mounts-without-intromission only from males or remained in their homecages. In experiment I, paced mating resulted in a significant overall suppression of FOS-IR in the lumbar 6 (L6) spinal segment compared to nonpaced and mounts only stimulation. This reduction occurred specifically among paced females receiving five intromissions. In contrast, significant elevations above homecage levels were seen in paced females given 15 intromissions, all nonpaced females, and mounts only animals. The numbers of Egr-1-immunoreactive (Egr-1-IR) cells increased equally above homecage levels in all male-exposed females. In experiment II, females that received five intromissions (paced or nonpaced) showed significant increases in tail-flick latency (TFL) within 5 s (time 0) after mating, while females receiving 15 intromissions showed hyperalgesia (15 nonpaced) or no change (15 paced) in TFL throughout 90 s postmating. Additional females tested immediately after receiving two ejaculations showed analgesia. Paced mating, though more effective than nonpaced mating in suppressing FOS-IR, did not influence the appearance of VCS-induced analgesia. We conclude that the suppression of FOS-IR by paced mating is not related to mating-induced analgesia.