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General Comment |
NCBI Summary:
Capsaicin, the main pungent ingredient in hot chili peppers, elicits a sensation of burning pain by selectively activating sensory neurons that convey information about noxious stimuli to the central nervous system. The protein encoded by this gene is a receptor for capsaicin and is a non-selective cation channel that is structurally related to members of the TRP family of ion channels. This receptor is also activated by increases in temperature in the noxious range, suggesting that it functions as a transducer of painful thermal stimuli in vivo. Four transcript variants encoding the same protein, but with different 5' UTR sequence, have been described for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
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Comment |
Gonadal ERa/, AR and TRPV1 gene expression: Modulation by pain and morphine treatment in male and female rats. Vodo S et al. The results of several studies strongly indicate a bidirectional relationship among gonadal hormones and pain. While gonadal hormones play a key role in pain modulation, they have been found to be affected by pain therapies in different experimental and clinical conditions. However, the effects of pain and pain therapy on the gonads are still not clear. In this study, we determined the long-lasting (72hours) effects of inflammatory pain (formalin test) and/or morphine on estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR) and TRPV1 gene expression in the rat testis and ovary. The animals were divided into groups: animals receiving no treatment, animals exposed only to the experimental procedure (control group), animals receiving no pain but morphine (sham/morphine), animals receiving pain and morphine (formalin/morphine), animals receiving only formalin (formalin/saline). Testosterone (T) and estradiol (E) were determined in the plasma at the end of testing. In the sham/morphine rats, there were increases of ERa, ER, AR and TRPV1 mRNA expression in the ovary; in the testis, ERa and ER mRNA expression were reduced while AR and TRPV1 expression were unaffected by treatment. T and E plasma levels were increased in morphine-treated female rats, while T levels were greatly reduced in morphine-treated and formalin-treated males. In conclusion, both testicular and ovarian ER (ERa and ER) and ovarian AR and TRPV1 gene expression appear to be affected by morphine treatment, suggesting long-lasting interactions among opioids and gonads.
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