{"doi":"10.1101/2022.01.13.476262","title":"Ovariectomy increases paclitaxel-induced mechanical hypersensitivity and reduces anti-inflammatory CD4+ T cells in the dorsal root ganglion of female mice","abstract":"Abstract Chemotherapy is often dose limiting due to the emergence of a debilitating neuropathy. IL-10 and IL-4 are protective against peripheral neuropathy, yet the cell source is unknown. Using flow cytometry, we found that naïve females had a greater frequency of anti-inflammatory CD4+ T cells in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) than males. In response to paclitaxel, females had reduced hypersensitivity and a greater frequency of anti-inflammatory CD4+ T cells (FoxP3, IL-10, IL-4) in the DRG than ovariectomized and male mice. These findings support a model in which estrogen promotes antiinflammatory CD4+ T cells in female DRG to suppress peripheral neuropathy. Highlights CD4+ T cells are present in the dorsal root ganglion of naïve and paclitaxel-treated male and female mice. Naïve female mice have a higher frequency of CD4+ T cells in the dorsal root ganglion compared to ovariectomized female and male mice. Paclitaxel induces more severe mechanical hypersensitivity in ovariectomized female and male mice compared to estrogen-competent female mice. Paclitaxel increases pro- and anti-inflammatory CD4+ T cells in the dorsal root ganglion of both male and female mice, but the increase in anti-inflammatory T cells is more robust in female mice. Ovariectomy reduces cytokine-producing CD4+ T cells in the dorsal root ganglion and prevents the PTX-induced increase in cytokine-producing CD4+ T cells in the dorsal root ganglion. Graphical Abstract Image created with Biorender.com","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2022,"id":302510,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9502,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":489833,"name":"Neal E. Mecum","orcid":"0009-0005-5558-1070","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":750812,"name":"Diana Goode","orcid":"0000-0002-3158-1384","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":57,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:32:16.279991Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}