An Insight on pain modulation with Gender and Obesity: A Systematic Review

Nowadays influence of gender and obesity on pain perception have been received substantial pragmatic attention. This may have implications for pain management among individuals. This systematic review was aimed to analyse the impact of gender and obesity on pain perception. The electronic databases of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, and EMBASE were searched using combinations of terms for gender, sex hormones, obese, body mass index, leptin, analgesic requirements, endogenous opioids, pain measurement, and pain perception/sensitivity/threshold. Studies without comparison as well as cross-sectional studies, case series, and case reports were excluded. In the context of summary of results of extensive literature search, we found that pain sensitivity against noxious stimuli is more experienced in obese as well as females whereas it is less experienced in lean as well as males. We also found that sex hormones have influence on leptin levels whereas leptin do not affect the level of sex hormones. This review reveals that from gender perspective sex hormones and from obesity perspective leptin play an important interlinked role in pain modulation. Gender and body mass index specific tailoring of pain treatments might become a conceivable outcome in the foreseeable future