Study sheds light on pain-killing role of oestrogen
Swedish scientists have shed new light on how the hormone oestrogen affects how sensitive we are to pain. According to one of the authors of the study, Jan-Åke Gustafsson of the Karolinska Institute, the findings could lead to the production of a whole new class of analgesic drugs. The work, which was partly funded by the EU, is published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It has been known for some time that oestrogen affects how we experience pain, but the mechanisms behind this are not well understood. The hormone also affects other functions in the brain, including neuronal development and nerve cell survival. In this latest study, the researchers looked at the role of two oestrogen receptors called ER alpha and ER beta. They found that ER-beta plays an important role in the development of the part of the spinal cord which contains the nerve fibres that carry information to the brain. Among other things, these nerves determine our sensitivity to pain and response to sensation in general. ER-beta receptors are the dominant oestrogen receptors during embryonic development, and mice that do not have the ER-beta receptor have delayed neuronal development. ER-beta is also important for the survival of nerve cells in the spinal cord of the adult animal, as well as for the transmission of pain and sensation. 'These results are particularly interesting in the light of preliminary results from pre-clinical studies that suggest that substances that stimulate ER-beta can give pain relief,' commented Professor Gustafsson. EU funding for the study came from the Sixth Framework Programme CASCADE (Chemicals as contaminants in the food chain) and CRESCENDO (Consortium for research into nuclear receptors in development and aging) projects. CASCADE is funded under the 'Food quality and safety' priority, while CRESCENDO's funding comes from the 'Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health' priority.
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