Exercise Reduces Morphine-Induced Hyperalgesia and Antinociceptive Tolerance

Chronic morphine intake for treating various pain is frequently concomitant with morphine-induced hyperalgesia and tolerance. The mechanisms can be explained by the activation of p38-MAPK proteins in microglia in the spinal cord horn. Exercise has been shown to prevent the development of microglia overactivation. Thus, we designed to test whether exercise prevents the morphine-induced hyperalgesia and tolerance as well as suppression of p38 phosphorylation. A p38 inhibitor SB203580, exercise, and exercise preconditioning were used for treating morphine-induced hyperalgesia and tolerance development in the present study. The behavior tests for hyperalgesia and tolerance were performed in male Wistar rats before and after morphine administration. Western blotting and immunostaining for examining phosphorylated-p38 expression were performed after the behavior tests. Our results showed that SB203580 and exercise, but not exercise preconditioning, prevented the occurrence of morphine-induced hyperalgesia and tolerance. Meanwhile, exercise decreased morphine-induced phosphorylated-p38 overexpression. In summary, exercise prevented the development of morphine-induced hyperalgesia and tolerance. The mechanism may be related to inhibition of p38 phosphorylation.