Antinociceptive effects of caloric restriction on post-incisional pain in nonobese rats

Caloric restriction (CR) increases lifespan, retards physiological signs of aging, and delays a variety of diseases. Reduction of inflammatory response was proposed as one of the molecular mechanisms for how CR exerts beneficial effects. The present study investigated the effects of CR on postoperative pain in rats. Adult nonobese rats were divided into two dietary groups, an ad libitum fed group (AL) and a caloric restriction group (CR) that was provided with 60% of the food intake of AL rats. After 6 weeks, the effects of CR on pain behaviors and inflammation induced by plantar incision were examined. CR rats displayed significantly reduced nonevoked pain, mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia induced by incision, and showed decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum, peri-incisional skin tissue and ipsilateral spinal cord dorsal horn at 6 h and 24 h after incision. The analgesic efficiency of parecoxib and morphine, two agents widely used for the management of postoperative pain clinically, was reinforced by CR. Together, CR generates antinociceptive effects on postoperative incisional pain in rats, perhaps providing some improvement of QOL in patients with postoperative pain, and the beneficial effects may be attributable to the inhibition of excessive inflammation induced by surgical injury.