Abstract
Exercise causes a variety of psychophysical effects (eg, alterations in pain sensation).
Tissue injury induces mediator releases in the spinal cord resulting in pain hypersensitivity;
however, the contribution of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is poorly understood.
In this study, we tested if forced treadmill running can attenuate postoperative pain
and alter substance P (SP) or proinflammatory cytokine level in the DRG by using a
rat model of skin/muscle incision and retraction (SMIR). We evaluated mechanical sensitivity
to von Frey stimuli (6 and 15 g) and expression of SP, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6
in the DRG of sham-operated sedentary rats, SMIR sedentary rats, sham-operated rats
with forced treadmill running, and SMIR rats with forced treadmill running. At postoperative
day 8, trained rats ran for 5 days per week for 4 weeks on a treadmill 70 minutes/d
with an intensity of 18 m/min. On postoperative day 6, SMIR sedentary rats displayed
a significant mechanical hypersensitivity that persisted until postoperative day 35.
By comparison, SMIR-operated rats, which received forced treadmill running, exhibited
a quick recovery from mechanical hypersensitivity. SMIR sedentary rats showed an upregulation
of SP, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6 in the DRG at postoperative days 14 and 28,
whereas SMIR-operated rats receiving forced treadmill running reversed this upregulation
at postoperative day 28. We concluded that forced treadmill running alleviated persistent
postincisional pain caused by SMIR surgery. This appears to be protective against
postoperative pain, which probably relates to the downturn in excess SP, interleukin-1β,
and interleukin-6 in the DRG.
Perspective
Controlling the expression of SP, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β in the DRG can
help manage postoperative pain. This finding could potentially help clinicians and
physical therapists who seek to examine how exercise may attenuate postsurgical pain
and its mechanism.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 19, 2014
Accepted:
April 7,
2014
Received in revised form:
April 7,
2014
Received:
August 12,
2013
Footnotes
C.-H.H. and Y.-W.C. contributed equally to this work.
Funding was provided by grants NSC 101-2314-B-006-037-MY3 and NSC 101-2918-I-039-001 from the National Science Council Taiwan, Taiwan.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
