| Abstract No.: | B-D2149 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | OBESITY, DIABETES AND AGING - AN IMPORTANT TRIAD IN ALTERED PAIN SENSITIVITY? |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 1 Helen Rodgers*; 1 Linda Wilson;
1 University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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| Content: | Objective: What underlies differences in pain sensitivity? The answer may be a combination of factors. Wilson and Rodgers (2004) identified an analgesic effect in aging obese mice (42-70 weeks old). Using the B6V-lepob mouse as a model of obesity and Type II diabetes, we found that obese mice showed a markedly reduced response on a thermal nociception test (tail-flick) in comparison with lean mice. These results suggest that obese mice should be less sensitive to pain. However, Baxter (2003) examined tail-flick in young adult (10-15 weeks old) mice and found no differences between obese and lean mice. Therefore, we assessed the effect of aging on pain sensitivity in the obese/diabetic population to determine if age was the reason for the discrepancy between our results and Baxter’s.
Materials and Methods: We assessed tail-flick latency in male Lep ob mice aged 15 weeks (n =10) and aged 23 weeks (n =10) on a tail-flick analgesiometer set at 40°C during mid photophase. All mice were exposed to pretest handling and adaptation prior to testing to reduce potential for stress induced analgesia.
Results: Mean tail-flick latencies of young adult obese mice were 4.6s; while those for the adult obese mice were 5.8s (F (1, 18) = 8.450, p < .01). Previously in our lab aged obese mice had a mean latency of 6.5s and aged lean mice a latency of 3.09s. Comparing the previously collected data with the recent data showed differences between all four groups (F (3,41) = 19.089, p < .01). Mean plots revealed a tendency of tail-flick latency to increase with age in the obese mice.
Conclusions: This study confirms the increased tail-flick latencies of obese mice in comparison to lean mice and suggests that age increases this difference, such that the older the mouse, the greater degree of analgesia in response to thermal stimuli. Identifying factors associated with altered pain sensitivity could lead to new pain management strategies or development of preventative measures for those with reduced sensitivity
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