AI Article Synopsis

  • The study aimed to evaluate how physical exercise affects glutamate levels in cerebrospinal fluid and pain in rats with neuropathic pain.
  • A total of 104 male rats were divided into four groups, with one group undergoing a chronic pain injury while some engaged in a daily swimming exercise routine for four weeks.
  • Results showed that exercise improved pain thresholds and reduced CSF glutamate levels in neuropathic rats, suggesting that regular physical activity can help manage pain in similar conditions.

Article Abstract

Objective: The pain-reducing effects of the exercise were exerted through different mechanisms. Knowing more clear mechanisms helps to find more approach that is therapeutic. The objective of the present study is the evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glutamate level alteration in neuropathic pain rats and whether physical activity could modulate it.

Methods: In the present study 104 male rats weighing 180-220 g were randomly divided into 4 groups (Sham, Sham + Exe, Neuropathy, and Neuropathy + Exe) which in turn each group subdivided into 4 groups according to time points for behavioral testing and CSF sampling (Baseline, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and 4 weeks). To induction of neuropathy (by chronic constriction injury,), after anesthetizing with a mixture of ketamine (80 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg), the animal's right sciatic nerve was exposed and was ligated using four movable catgut chromic suture 4/0. The exercise protocol included 25 min of daily swimming, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical tactile threshold were detected using the plantar test and Von Frey filaments, respectively. CSF glutamate level was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography.

Results: Findings indicated that mechanical and thermal thresholds significantly ( < 0.01,  < 0.05 respectively) decreased in the neuropathy group against that in sham groups. On the other hand, exercise significantly increased mechanical tactile threshold ( < 0.0012) and thermal threshold ( < 0.05) compared to the neuropathy group. Moreover, CSF glutamate level prominently ( < 0.01) was increased in the neuropathy group compared to the sham group, and swimming exercise significantly ( < 0.001) reduced it.

In Conclusion: The present findings provide new evidence showing that medium-intensity swimming exercise attenuates pain-like behaviors in neuropathic pain animals, which is possibly due to decreasing CSF glutamate level and its neurotransmission.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2024.2313901DOI Listing

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