CRF is involved in acute stress-induced analgesia and antipruritus

Hui Li

Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, China.  

To observe whether the desensitization of pain and itch under acute stress is related to the increase of CRF? ELISA and pharmacological methods were conducted to observe the effects of forced swimming (FS) on acute pain or itch. The results showed that the serum CRF in mice reached its peak within ⁵ – ¹⁰ minutes after FS, and the pain and itch behavior decreased at the same time. After ICV injection of CRF, the scratching behavior was significantly inhibited. The above effects of CRF are mediated by CRF²R. Our results indicate that after acute stress, a large amount of CRF is released into the blood, which significantly inhibits acute pain and itch via CRF²R.