Porreca F

Scheduled surgeries elicit stress in many patients. Levels of preoperative stress, anxiety, and female gender are known risk factors for increased and prolonged postoperative pain. The mechanisms by which psychological stress increases post…

The prevalence of many pain conditions often differs between sexes. In addition to such quantitative distinctions, sexual dimorphism may also be qualitative reflecting differences in mechanisms that promote pain in men and women. A major fa…

Prolactin (PRL) has recently been demonstrated to elicit female-selective nociceptor sensitization and increase pain-like behaviors in female animals. Here we report the discovery and characterization of first-in-class, humanized PRL neutra…

Women experience chronic pain more often than men with some pain conditions being specific to women while others are more prevalent in women. Prolactin, a neuropeptide hormone with higher serum levels in women, has recently been demonstrate…

Pancreatic pain resulting from chronic inflammation of the pancreas is often intractable and clinically difficult to manage with available analgesics reflecting the need for more effective therapies. The mechanisms underlying pancreatitis p…