Sex and age effects on chronic inflammatory pain development, maintenance, and resolution in Wistar rats.

Millions of Americans live with chronic inflammatory pain conditions, and the prevalence of these conditions increases with age and is higher in females. Still, it is poorly understood how sex, age and peripheral gene expression affect the trajectory of chronic inflammatory pain conditions. We used the inflammatory agent, Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA), to systematically test sex and age effects on mechanical and thermal sensitivity in adolescent and adult male and female Wistar rats over 3 weeks (Experiment 1 [onset]) or 11 weeks (Experiment 2 [recovery]).

Hypertension disrupts the vascular clock in both sexes.

Blood pressure (BP) displays a circadian rhythm and disruptions in this pattern elevate cardiovascular risk. Although both central and peripheral clock genes are implicated in these processes, the importance of vascular clock genes is not fully understood. BP, vascular reactivity, and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system display overt sex differences, but whether changes in circadian patterns underlie these differences is unknown.

Ovariectomy-Induced Arterial Stiffening Differs From Vascular Aging and Is Reversed by GPER Activation.

Background: Arterial stiffness is a cardiovascular risk factor and dramatically increases as women transition through menopause. The current study assessed whether a mouse model of menopause increases arterial stiffness in a similar manner to aging and whether activation of the G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor could reverse stiffness.

Methods: Female C57Bl/6J mice were ovariectomized at 10 weeks of age or aged to 52 weeks, and some mice were treated with G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor agonists.