PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Farmer, Melissa A.
AU  - Leja, Alison
AU  - Foxen-Craft, Emily
AU  - Chan, Lindsey
AU  - MacIntyre, Leigh C.
AU  - Niaki, Tina
AU  - Chen, Mengsha
AU  - Mapplebeck, Josiane C.S.
AU  - Tabry, Vanessa
AU  - Topham, Lucas
AU  - Sukosd, Melissa
AU  - Binik, Yitzchak M.
AU  - Pfaus, James G.
AU  - Mogil, Jeffrey S.
TI  - Pain Reduces Sexual Motivation in Female But Not Male Mice
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5337-13.2014
DP  - 2014 Apr 23
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 5747--5753
VI  - 34
IP  - 17
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/17/5747.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/17/5747.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2014 Apr 23; 34
AB  - Chronic pain is often associated with sexual dysfunction, suggesting that pain can reduce libido. We find that inflammatory pain reduces sexual motivation, measured via mounting behavior and/or proximity in a paced mating paradigm, in female but not male laboratory mice. Pain was produced by injection of inflammogens zymosan A (0.5 mg/ml) or λ-carrageenan (2%) into genital or nongenital (hind paw, tail, cheek) regions. Sexual behavior was significantly reduced in female mice experiencing pain (in all combinations); male mice similarly treated displayed unimpeded sexual motivation. Pain-induced reductions in female sexual behavior were observed in the absence of sex differences in pain-related behavior, and could be rescued by the analgesic, pregabalin, and the libido-enhancing drugs, apomorphine and melanotan-II. These findings suggest that the well known context sensitivity of the human female libido can be explained by evolutionary rather than sociocultural factors, as female mice can be similarly affected.