Functional Sexual Dimorphism in Human Nociceptors

The recent demonstration of differences in transcript expression in human post-mortem sensory neurons suggests the possibility of sexually dimorphic pain mechanisms. To date, however, the concept of "male" and "female" nociceptors has not been demonstrated at a functional level. We now report sensitization of female, but not male, human nociceptors by prolactin revealing a female-selective mechanism that can be exploited to improve the treatment of pain in women.