# Regulation of neuropathic pain by exercise: effects on nociceptor plasticity and inflammation

> **NIH NIH R01** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $337,979

## Abstract

Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Detloff, Megan Ryan
PROJECT SUMMARY
 Spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs sensory transmission leads to chronic, debilitating neuropathic pain.
Chronic pain afflicts over 100 million Americans and creates an enormous burden on US health care systems,
costing over half a trillion dollars annually according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine. While our
understanding of the molecular basis underlying the development of chronic pain has improved, the available
therapeutics provide limited relief. After SCI, rehabilitative locomotor training is widely used in the clinical SCI
population with its primary goal to promote motor recovery after SCI. In the lab, we have shown the timing of
exercise is critical to meaningful sensory recovery. Early administration of a sustained locomotor exercise
program in spinal cord injured rats prevents the development of neuropathic pain, while delaying similar
locomotor training until pain was established was ineffective at ameliorating it. The time elapsed since the
injury occurred also indicates the degree of inflammation in the dorsal horn. We have previously shown that
chronic SCI and the development of neuropathic pain correspond with robust increases in microglial activation
and the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This proposal seeks to lengthen the therapeutic window where
rehabilitative exercise can successfully suppress neuropathic pain by pharmacologically reducing inflammation
in dorsal root ganglia. We will administer a pharmacologic agent to dampen injury-induced inflammation
acutely after SCI prior to and/or at the same time as exercise initiation after spinal cord injury. This will
determine whether inflammation must be reduced prior to the initiation of exercise to suppress pain
development or if it is sufficient to modulate inflammation at the time exercise is initiated. We will measure
changes in the electrophysiological properties of nociceptors related to the extrinsic inflammatory environment
in the DRG after SCI in the presence or absence of exercise as a treatment. Information garnered from these
experiments would guide future efforts to optimize the treatment of chronic SCI-induced pain by exercise.
OMB No. 0925-0001/0002 (Rev. 08/12 Approved Through 8/31/2015) Page Continuation Format Page

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10226015
- **Project number:** 5R01NS097880-05
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MEGAN R DETLOFF
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $337,979
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-25 → 2023-09-17

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10226015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10226015, Regulation of neuropathic pain by exercise: effects on nociceptor plasticity and inflammation (5R01NS097880-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10226015. Licensed CC0.

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