The effects of exercise on the GAP-43 expression in the spinal cord of arthritis-induced rats

[Purpose] The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of exercise on the recovery of spinal cord nerve cells damaged due to pain signals which are a major symptom of osteoarthritis. [Subjects and Methods] Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=40) were used and induction of osteoarthritis by monosodium iodoacetate. Injected rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: Sham control group without MIA injection (SG), control group with injected MIA (CG), OA without exercise (NEG), OA with exercise (EG). Sham control group was injected normal cell line instead of MIA. The exercise group was submitted to 4-week training program on a treadmill for 5 days/week, 30 min/day, 16 m/min velocity, then spinal cord were removed and measured the GAP-43 expression by immunohistochemistry analysis. [Results] In this study, a results of measuring the expression of GAP-43. GAP-43 was observed in all groups, showed that the significant difference in each group. [Conclusion] It could be seen that exercise increased the GAP-43 expression in the spinal cord to promote the recovery of spinal cord nerve cells damaged due to chronic osteoarthritis.