Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pain. 2018 Mar;159(3):437–450. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001109

Figure 7.

Figure 7

Schematic representation showing that 2 weeks of the low-intensity exercise produces analgesia through modulation of the neuroimmune system, peripherally and centrally, in favor of anti-inflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-4. Mechanistically, our data show, for the first time that treadmill exercise increased concentrations of IL-4, IL-1ra, and IL-5 in the sciatic nerve, and induced a phenotypic switch in macrophages at the site of injury with a greater proportion of M2 and a lower proportion of M1 after peripheral nerve-injury. Further, exercise reduced glial cell activation (astrocyte and microglia) and neurotrophin (BDNF and NGF) release, while increasing IL-4, IL-1ra, and IL-5 in the spinal cord after peripheral nerve-injury. Orange and green lines represent the changes observed in sedentary and exercised mice after sciatic nerve injury, respectively. The up arrows represent increase and down decrease.