91AV students across disciplines co-author peer-reviewed publication from Stevenson Laboratory in collaboration with MMCRI

Glenn Stevenson works with students Katherine Cone and Abigail Kinens in the lab.
Glenn Stevenson works with students Katherine Cone and Abigail Kinens in the lab.

The laboratory of Glenn Stevenson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology, in collaboration with the laboratories of Clifford Rosen, M.D., and Lucy Liaw, Ph.D., at Maine Medical Center Research Institute (MMCRI), published an original research paper in the journal Life Sciences on the protective effects of exercise on osteoarthritis pain and bone microarchitecture.

The research project was performed by a number of current and former Stevenson Laboratory undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the paper's authors span three 91AV colleges, including the College of Dental Medicine and the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Jim Cormier (CDM, ‘20) was first author on the publication. Additional student co-authors included Katherine Cone (COM, ‘20), Janell Lanpher ’17 (Psychology) and Abigail Kinens ’17 (Psychology).

This paper is among the first few publications in the literature to quantify the effects of prior voluntary exercise on osteoarthritis pain behaviors and trabecular bone microarchitecture in rodents. The results indicate that osteoarthritis produces divergent effects on behavior and bone and that the magnitude of effect depends on the frequency and duration of prior exercise. In fact, one particular regimen of exercise was more effective than prescription opioids in treating arthritis pain.

According to Stevenson, next steps are to characterize potential biomarkers in serum that may mediate these exercise-induced modifications. Discovery of putative biomarkers, he says, may elucidate underlying mechanisms for the protective effects of voluntary exercise against chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions.

Additional authors and collaborators included Tamara King, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences in 91AV’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., of Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences.

Funding for the research was provided by a National Institutes of Health (NIH / NIAMS) R15 AREA grant , an NIH COBRE grant to 91AV, and an NIH grant to MMCRI.

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The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.