Amiloride is a non-specific blocker of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), which have been recently implicated in the mediation of mechanical and chemical/inflammatory nociception. Preliminary data using a transgenic model were suggestive of sex differences in the role of ASICs. We report here that systemic administration of amiloride (10-70 mg/kg, i.p.) produces a robust, dose-dependent blockade of late/tonic phase nociceptive behavior on the mouse formalin test (5%; 20 µl) in female but not male mice, completely abolishing the known sex difference in formalin test responding. Adult gonadectomy produced a "switching" of sex differences in amiloride efficacy, with castrated males displaying an amiloride blockade and ovariectomized females rendered less sensitive to amiloride. Gonadectomized mice could be switched back to their intact status using chronic estrogen benzoate or testosterone propionate replacement via osmotic minipump (6 µg/day or 250 µg/day, respectively). It is unclear whether this striking sex difference is due to sex specific involvement of ASICs in pain processing, but the present data represent one of the first demonstrations of pain-related sex differences with no obvious opioid involvement.