Mechanisms of Exercise-induced Hypoalgesia

NCT ID: NCT05961449

Last Updated: 2025-04-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 40 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-04-26
• Study Completion Date: 2023-10-01

Brief Summary

This project aims to clarify the mechanisms underpinning the acute analgesic effect of exercise in healthy humans-a phenomenon called "Exercise-induced hypoalgesia" (EIH). This study will characterize, using a within-subject cross-over design, the effects of a single session of aerobic exercise vs. a control condition on the sensitivity to stimuli preferentially activating mechano vs. heat-sensitive nociceptors of the skin vs. muscle, within vs. outside exercising body parts. The investigators hypothesize (1) that EIH will be greater in the exercise session compared to the control session, (2) that EIH will be greater at the local site compared to the remote site if local changes in nociceptive sensitivity contribute to EIH, and (3) that exercise will preferentially affect blunt pressure-induced pain if EIH involves specific changes in sensitivity of muscle nociceptors.

Conditions

Healthy; Men; Adults

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Experimental condition

Participants will complete an experimental exercise that will consist in 25 minutes of cycling between 60-80 Revolution Per Minute (RPM) on a cycle ergometer (CST BX40; Cardiostrong; Germany) at ≥ 70% of the Heart Rate Reserve (HRR).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cycling exercise

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will complete an experimental exercise that will consist in 25 minutes of cycling between 60-80 Revolution Per Minute (RPM) on a cycle ergometer (CST BX40; Cardiostrong; Germany) at ≥ 70% of the Heart Rate Reserve (HRR).

Control condition

The control condition will include an exercise design similar to the experimental condition except that the resistance will be kept at 25 W and the RPM below 50. The intensity of the exercise will be kept at minimal levels by ensuring that the heart rate does not increase \>25% from baseline

Group Type: SHAM_COMPARATOR

Cycling control

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The control condition will include an exercise design similar to the experimental condition except that the resistance will be kept at 25 W and the RPM below 50. The intensity of the exercise will be kept at minimal levels by ensuring that the heart rate does not increase \>25% from baseline.

Interventions

Cycling exercise

Participants will complete an experimental exercise that will consist in 25 minutes of cycling between 60-80 Revolution Per Minute (RPM) on a cycle ergometer (CST BX40; Cardiostrong; Germany) at ≥ 70% of the Heart Rate Reserve (HRR).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Cycling control

The control condition will include an exercise design similar to the experimental condition except that the resistance will be kept at 25 W and the RPM below 50. The intensity of the exercise will be kept at minimal levels by ensuring that the heart rate does not increase \>25% from baseline.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Males aged between 18 and 30 years
• Lack of risks for physical exercise assessed using the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)
• Ability to provide written informed consent
• Fluency in French
• BMI between 17 and 30

Exclusion Criteria

• Regular tobacco use
• Not willing or able to abstain from alcohol, recreational drugs, coffee, or tea from 24 hours prior to each experimental session.
• Not willing or able to restrain from physical activity > 24h prior to each experimental session, and to be in a fasted state on the day of each experimental session.
• Any neurological, cardio-vascular, respiratory, inflammatory, endocrine, psychiatric, oncological, rheumatological conditions. Such condition could put the participants at risk during maximal exercise testing and/or interfere with pain assessment.
• Presence of any medical devices (e.g., cardiac pacemaker) implants or prothesis unless it is beyond discussion that these will not put the subject's safety during the study at risk and will not interfere with the results of the study.
• Any chronic pain condition or recent history thereof (i.e. within the preceeding 2 years).
• Wounds or skin alteration on testing sites.
• Impaired hearing. This would affect ability to detect the control auditory stimuli.
• Surgery < 12 months
• Any drug intake in the past 2 weeks including antibiotics, herbal medicines and other remedies except the following drugs that will be allowed up to 48 hours prior to the experiments: oral paracetamol or ibuprofen for a self-limiting condition (e.g. toothache, bruise). Oral antihistaminics and nasal aerosol and topical treatments for seasonal allergy up to 1 week before the experimental session.
• Any physical activity contraindication

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 30 Years
• Eligible Sex: MALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Université Catholique de Louvain

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

André Mouraux, Full professor, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain

Locations

Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain

Brussels, Brussels Capital, Belgium

Countries

Belgium

Other Identifiers

EIH

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id