Ethnicity is associated with alterations in oxytocin relationships to pain sensitivity in women

Abstract

It is well established that African Americans (AA) experience greater pain associated with a variety of clinical conditions, and greater pain sensitivity to experimental pain tasks relative to non-Hispanic Whites (W). Notably, African Americans do not show the same relationships involving endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms and pain sensitivity documented in Caucasians, including positive associations between blood pressure, norepinephrine, cortisol and greater pain tolerance. Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between plasma oxytocin (OT) and pain sensitivity and to explore the relation of OT to other factors known to influence pain perception. Design. OT concentration and sensitivity to ischemic, cold pressor, and thermal pain tasks were assessed in African American (n=25) and non-Hispanic White (n=23) pre-menopausal women. Results. African American women demonstrated significantly lower pain tolerance across tasks compared with Whites (F 1,46=6.31, p=0.0156) and also exhibited lower plasma OT levels (AA: 3.90, W: 7.05 pg/mL; p=0.0014). Greater OT levels were correlated with greater tolerance to ischemic pain (r=0.36, p=0.013) and accounted for a marginally significant portion of the ethnic difference in ischemic pain tolerance (B=+0.29, p=0.06). Greater OT was also correlated with greater tolerance of cold pressor pain (r=0.31, p=0.03); however, this association was no longer seen after the variance due to ethnicity was accounted for. Conclusion. These data suggest that reduced oxytocinergic function may be one of multiple biological factors contributing to the greater sensitivity to experimental ischemic pain, and to the greater burden of some types of clinical pain experienced by African Americans compared with Whites.