ArticlePloS one2012
Stretching of the back improves gait, mechanical sensitivity and connective tissue inflammation in a rodent model.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between thoracolumbar fascia injury and residual back pain following percutaneous vertebral augmentation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Ultrasound Imaging of Thoracolumbar Fascia: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review of in vivo stretching regimens on inflammation and its relevance to translational yoga research.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Comparison of Joint Mobilization and Movement Pattern Training for Patients With Hip-Related Groin Pain: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.Physical therapy · 2023Trial
- Biological motion during inflammation in humans.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2020Trial
- Continuous mechanical compression-induced intervertebral disc degeneration and pain in the caudal spine in rats.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- What a pain in the back: etiology, diagnosis and future treatment directions for discogenic low back pain.Bone research · 2025Review
- A review and empirical findings of fasciae and muscle interactions in low back pain.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Integrated manual therapies: IASP taskforce viewpoint.Pain reports · 2024Article
- Clinical Impact of Thermotherapy and Spinal Twisting Massage on Chronic Non-Specific Spinal Pain.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Effect of stretching on inflammation in a subcutaneous carrageenan mouse model analyzed at single-cell resolution.Journal of cellular physiology · 2023Article
- Immediate Effects of Myofascial Release Treatment on Lumbar Microcirculation: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Mechanisms Underlying Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Cancer Properties of Stretching-A Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Sex-Related Pain Behavioral Differences following Unilateral NGF Injections in a Rat Model of Low Back Pain.Biology · 2022Article
- The Effects of a Single Bout of High- or Moderate-Intensity Yoga Exercise on Circulating Inflammatory Mediators: A Pilot Feasibility Study.Global advances in health and medicine · 2022Article
- Key indicators of repetitive overuse-induced neuromuscular inflammation and fibrosis are prevented by manual therapy in a rat model.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2021Article
- Soft Tissue Manipulation May Attenuate Inflammation, Modulate Pain, and Improve Gait in Conscious Rodents With Induced Low Back Pain.Military medicine · 2021Article
- Comment on: "The Case for Retiring Flexibility as a Major Component of Physical Fitness".Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Article
- Non-pharmacological Treatment of Pain: Grand Challenge and Future Opportunities.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Reconnecting the Brain With the Rest of the Body in Musculoskeletal Pain Research.The journal of pain · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The role played by nonspecialized connective tissues in chronic non-specific low back pain is not well understood. In a recent ultrasound study, human subjects with chronic low back pain had altered connective tissue structure compared to human subjects without low back pain, suggesting the presence of inflammation and/or fibrosis in the low back pain subjects. Mechanical input in the form of static tissue stretch has been shown in vitro and in vivo to have anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. To better understand the pathophysiology of lumbar nonspecialized connective tissue as well as potential mechanisms underlying therapeutic effects of tissue stretch, we developed a carrageenan-induced inflammation model in the low back of a rodent. Induction of inflammation in the lumbar connective tissues resulted in altered gait, increased mechanical sensitivity of the tissues of the low back, and local macrophage infiltration. Mechanical input was then applied to this model as in vivo tissue stretch for 10 minutes twice a day for 12 days. In vivo tissue stretch mitigated the inflammation-induced changes leading to restored stride length and intrastep distance, decreased mechanical sensitivity of the back and reduced macrophage expression in the nonspecialized connective tissues of the low back. This study highlights the need for further investigation into the contribution of connective tissue to low back pain and the need for a better understanding of how interventions involving mechanical stretch could provide maximal therapeutic benefit. This tissue stretch research is relevant to body-based treatments such as yoga or massage, and to some stretch techniques used with physical therapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.