Fig. 1

Effects of MT on behavior and inflammatory cytokines in rats DRG. A Diagram of MT intervention. B Timeline of the experiment. C, D Radiographs presenting coronal and sagittal views of a rat after CCD surgery. Arrows indicate L1 and L6 to locate the lumbar spine, and circles indicate the L4 and L5 intervertebral foramen where the stainless-steel rod has been implanted. E, F PWT and PWL of rats were measured to assess their mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. The data are expressed as mean ± SD (N = 8). Repeated measurement ANOVA was used to analyze the data at various time points between the groups and one-way ANOVA followed by LSD post hoc analysis was used for pairwise comparison (^##P < 0.01 versus sham group, ^**P < 0.01 versus CCD group). G–I ELISA experiments showed that the expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in DRG varies between the groups. The data are expressed as mean ± SD (N = 8) and analyzed for statistical significance using one-way ANOVA followed by LSD post hoc analysis for multiple comparisons (^##P < 0.01 versus sham group, ^**P < 0.01 versus CCD group). ANOVA analysis of variance, CCD chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion, DRG dorsal root ganglion, ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, LSD least significant difference, MT manual therapy, PWL paw withdrawal latency, PWT paw withdrawal threshold, SD standard deviation