Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2008 Jun;13(3):219-41.
doi: 10.1080/13557850701837310.

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

Karen M Grewen  1 , Kathleen C Light, Beth Mechlin, Susan S Girdler
Affiliations
Comparative Study

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

Karen M Grewen et al. Ethn Health. 2008 Jun.

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ethnic differences in mean pain threshold and tolerance time in seconds (Mean± SEM) during cold pressor, ischemic, and thermal heat pain tasks.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ethnic differences in mean (Mean±SEM) pain tolerance averaged across post-rest and post-stress periods, expressed as Z-scores, for cold pressor, ischemic, and thermal pain tasks. Mean tolerance score=0, 1 unit=1 standard deviation. Repeated measures ethnicity effect: F1, 46 =6.31, p=0.0156.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ethnic differences in mean (Mean±SEM) plasma oxytocin concentration (pg/mL) at baseline; Student’s t-test=3.16, p=0.0028.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correlations (r) between plasma oxytocin (square-root transformed) and cold pressor pain tolerance (square-root transformed) displayed separately by ethnic group. African Americans: filled circles, non-Hispanic Whites: open circles.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlations (r) between plasma oxytocin (square-root transformed) and ischemic pain tolerance (square-root transformed) displayed separately by ethnic group. African Americans: filled circles, non-Hispanic Whites: open circles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Agren G, Uvnas-Moberg K, Lundeberg T. Olfactory cues from an oxytocin-injected male rat can induce anti-nociception in its cagemates. Neuroreport. 1997;8(14):3073–3076. - PubMed
    1. al’Absi M, Petersen KL. Blood pressure but not cortisol mediates stress effects on subsequent pain perception in healthy men and women. Pain. 2003;106(3):285–295. - PubMed
    1. al’Absi M, Petersen KL, Wittmers LE. Adrenocortical and hemodynamic predictors of pain perception in men and women. Pain. 2002;96(1–2):197–204. - PubMed
    1. Alfven G, de la Torre B, Uvnas-Moberg K. Depressed concentrations of oxytocin and cortisol in children with recurrent abdominal pain of non-organic origin. Acta Paediatrica. 1994;83(10):1076–1080. - PubMed
    1. Anderberg UM, Uvnas-Moberg K. Plasma oxytocin levels in female fibromyalgia syndrome patients. Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie. 2000;59(6):373–379. - PubMed

Publication types