Abstract
Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes neurodegeneration, impairs locomotor function, and impacts the quality of life particularly in those individuals in whom neuropathic pain develops. Whether the time course of neurodegeneration, locomotor impairment, or neuropathic pain varies with sex, however, remains understudied. Therefore, the objective of this study in male and female C57BL/6 mice was to evaluate the following outcomes for six weeks after a 75-kdyn thoracic contusion SCI: locomotor function using the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS); spinal cord tissue sparing and rostral-caudal lesion length; and mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia using hindpaw application of Von Frey filaments or radiant heat stimuli, respectively. Although motor function was largely similar between sexes, all of the males, but only half of the females, recovered plantar stepping. Rostral-caudal lesion length was shorter in females than in males. Mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia after SCI developed in all animals, regardless of sex; there were no differences in pain outcomes between sexes. We conclude that contusion SCI yields subtle sex differences in mice depending on the outcome measure but no significant differences in behavioral signs of neuropathic pain.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating disability that historically has disproportionally affected young men
The Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) scores did not differ between SCI males and females over the sixweek observation period (F 1,14 = 0.52, p = 0.48 main effect of sex)
To better understand the effect of sex on locomotor recovery, we examined individual locomotor parameters observed with BMS scores of 4–5
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating disability that historically has disproportionally affected young men. After thoracic (T8) contusion SCI in rats, females have significantly improved locomotor and anatomical recovery relative to males.[5] Whether these sex differences in motor function and neuropathology extend to mice is not well understood. The incidence of chronic neuropathic pain after SCI is 65–80%.6. After SCI, women present a higher prevalence of nociceptive pain and consume greater amounts of analgesic drugs including opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).[7] By contrast, after SCI in rats, mechanical hypersensitivity occurs with greater frequency in males compared with females.[8,9] The extent to which sex differences in central neuropathic pain occur in SCI mice is understudied.
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