Sex Difference in Trigeminal Neuropathic Pain Response to Exercise: Role of Oxidative Stress

Aim. Orofacial chronic neuropathic pain commonly occurs following trigeminal nerve injuries. We investigated whether swimming exercise can reduce trigeminal neuropathic pain through improving antioxidant capacity. Materials and Methods. Twenty-eight Wistar rats of either sex and 180–220 grams were divided into 4 groups as sham, neuropathy, neuropathy + single bout exercise, and neuropathy + 2 weeks of exercise. Trigeminal neuropathy was carried out through chronic constriction injury (CCI) of infraorbital nerve. Protocols of exercise were included a single bout session (45 minutes) and a 2-week (45 minutes/day/6 days a week) swimming exercise. Mechanical allodynia was detected using Von Frey filaments. The activity of the serum antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxides dismutase was assayed using ELISA kits. Results. We found that CCI significantly reduced facial pain threshold in both sexes (P