Abstract
In order to examine the effectiveness of the application of static magnetic field (SMF) on pain relief, we performed a study on rats with adjuvant arthritis (AA). Sixty female Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats (age: 6 weeks, body weight: approximately 160 g) were divided into three groups [SMF-treated AA rats (Group I), non-SMF-treated AA rats (Group II) and control rats (Group III)]. The SD rats were injected in the left hind leg with 0.6 mg/0.05 ml Mycobacterium butyrium to induce AA. The rats were bred for 6 months as chronic pain model. Thereafter, the AA rats were or were not exposed to SMF for 12 weeks. We assessed the changes in the tail surface temperature, locomotor activity, serum inflammatory marker and bone mineral density (BMD) using thermography, a metabolism measuring system and the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) method, respectively. The tail surface temperature, locomotor activity and femoral BMD of the SMF-exposed AA rats were significantly higher than those of the non-SMF-exposed AA rats, and the serum inflammatory marker was significantly lower. These findings suggest that the pain relief effects are primarily due to the increased blood circulation caused by the rise in the tail surface temperature. Moreover, the pain relief effects increased with activity and BMD of the AA rats.