Foot shock stress generates persistent widespread hypersensitivity and anhedonic behavior in an anxiety-prone strain of mice

Pain. 2020 Jan;161(1):211-219. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001703.

Abstract

A significant subset of patients with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome suffer from widespread, as well as pelvic, pain and experience mood-related disorders, including anxiety, depression, and panic disorder. Stress is a commonly reported trigger for symptom onset and exacerbation within these patients. The link between stress and pain is believed to arise, in part, from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which regulates the response to stress and can influence the perception of pain. Previous studies have shown that stress exposure in anxiety-prone rats can induce both pelvic and widespread hypersensitivity. Here, we exposed female A/J mice, an anxiety-prone inbred murine strain, to 10 days of foot shock stress to determine stress-induced effects on sensitivity, anhedonia, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulation and output. At 1 and 28 days after foot shock, A/J mice displayed significantly increased bladder sensitivity and hind paw mechanical allodynia. They also displayed anhedonic behavior, measured as reduced nest building scores and a decrease in sucrose preference during the 10-day foot shock exposure. Serum corticosterone was significantly increased at 1 day after foot shock, and bladder mast cell degranulation rates were similarly high in both sham- and shock-exposed mice. Bladder cytokine and growth factor mRNA levels indicated a persistent shift toward a proinflammatory environment after foot shock exposure. Together, these data suggest that chronic stress exposure in an anxiety-prone mouse strain may provide a useful translational model for understanding mechanisms that contribute to widespreadness of pain and increased comorbidity in a subset of patients with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Anhedonia / physiology*
  • Animals
  • Anxiety / metabolism
  • Anxiety / physiopathology
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology*
  • Cytokines / genetics
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Electroshock
  • Female
  • Hyperalgesia / metabolism
  • Hyperalgesia / physiopathology*
  • Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / physiopathology
  • Inflammation / genetics
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Inflammation / physiopathology
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / genetics
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Pituitary-Adrenal System / physiopathology
  • Stress, Physiological / physiology*
  • Stress, Psychological / metabolism
  • Stress, Psychological / physiopathology*
  • Urinary Bladder / metabolism

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins